


Worth It

by GoldenRaven



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, both dysfunctional and functional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 52,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21775663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenRaven/pseuds/GoldenRaven
Summary: The letter on the desk is terrifying.The photograph and lock of red hair that had been folded within it are painful.But he can't back out if She has him.It's not worth it.Nothing is.
Comments: 46
Kudos: 210





	1. Chapter 1

The letter on the desk is terrifying.

The photograph and lock of red hair that had been folded within it are painful.

Giovanni sits deathly still in his chair, staring down at the clean, elegant handwriting covering the piece of heavy card-stock, his hand over his mouth to hide from the empty room that he’s nearly bitten through his lip trying to make sense of the two revelations made within the past five minutes.

His mother, Regina, is alive.

And she, somehow, has Silver.

Never mind that Silver’s alive in the first place, he can’t be relieved when it’s fully possible that will change within the next twenty-four hours.

Regina wants a meeting with him.

Her building. Her people. Her terms.

Silver’s life on the line, he’s sure. There is a very twisted joke in the fact that she is willing to use Silver as a bargaining chip but would never have thought twice about letting Giovanni die rather than be inconvenienced with a deal for his life.

(Which is not to say he’d thought twice before letting Nidoking bury her in the rubble of his childhood home, but that’s beside the point.)

There is nothing to think over. He’s going.

Quietly, he reaches for the burner phone in his desk drawer, and with a slow, steadying, breath, dials the number on the card.

* * *

The house is in the mountains, and Giovanni’s only slightly insulted that the driver who’d collected him hadn’t bothered to try and hide the route.

Guards surround the building, and a brief inspection as he walks past them turns up no familiar faces.

So she’s not flaunting any traitors in his face at least, but if she’s still alive then there must be some.

Regina’s waiting in the entrance hall when the doors are pushed open by two of her guards, who proceed to make a show of frisking him, which is genuinely insulting.

Not the implication that she doesn’t trust him, but that she thinks he’s stupid or callous enough to try something right now when he doesn’t doubt there’s a gun to his son’s head down one of these hallways.

“Where is he?” Giovanni demands, in an eerily calm tone, when the guards finally leave.

A thoughtful smile crosses her face.

“It’s been ten years, and you’re not going to even pretend to be glad to see me? Relieved I didn’t die in your little tantrum?”

Giovanni stays still. Letting any reaction show would give her the upper hand, and he can’t afford that.

It takes every ounce of self-control he has to not pull away when she steps closer, a hand settling lightly on his cheek.

“I know you won’t believe me, but I have missed you, Gianni. How has the world been treating you? You look so tired.”

His fingers snap closed around her wrist, and it occurs briefly to him just how easy it would be to break the thin bones under his fingers.

But he doesn’t, just pulls her hand away from his face.

“What. Do. You. Want. Mother.”

She lowers her hand, and he lets go of her.

“To talk.”

She leads him up the stairs.

There’s a guard outside every door, possibly to conceal which one Silver’s in, and Giovanni makes a note of how well armed they are as he passes.

The answer, of course, is armed enough to kill a five-year-old boy with no difficulty, which puts a halt on any spite fueled plans.

Regina leads him to an office, with a large window that he’s sure is bulletproof, two bookshelves, and a desk with a large chair behind it.

Nothing in front, because why let someone relax in her presence?

She sinks into the chair and pulls a tablet out of a drawer.

A moment later, it gets set on the tabletop, showing a security feed of a small, red-haired, boy sitting curled up in an armchair in a small bedroom.

“So you believe me,” she says simply, leaving the feed running as she leans back, knitting her fingers together in front of her.

Giovanni gives himself five seconds to take in the image. Silver looks like he had in the photograph; small, pale, and as though he’d been hastily cleaned up, and then stuffed into the suit he’s currently in.

Any traces of where he’d been have been removed, in other words.

“How did you find him?” Giovanni asks as he pulls his gaze from the screen. Now he notices a small handkerchief with familiar red embroidery, and a pokeball sitting on the desk, and he makes himself meet her gaze instead.

“An associate of mine let the wrong thing slip at the wrong time and didn’t have much choice but to cooperate. When they lose their usefulness I’ll tell you who they are, if you go along with the rest of my terms.”

“Which are?”

“Sign Team Rocket back over to me. After that, you can take Silver off to some other region, because as long as you’re in Kanto there will be people looking for you, and neither of you has to hear from me again. You’ll be going straight from here to the airstrip, of course, but you can send someone to clear out the house, and I have no interest in your other resources. You can keep your safe houses and money. It’s really just an early retirement.”

Giovanni stays quiet.

There isn’t anything to think over.

Team Rocket isn’t worth Silver’s life, nothing is.

And he can take it back from her. He’d done it before.

But it’s such a big win to hand her.

His eyes drift back to the handkerchief. It’s dirty, the once pure white silk has been stained to a cream, and the threads spelling out Silver’s name all look as though they’ve been rubbed at frequently.

“You’ll have someone drop a car at the airport. It won’t be monitored.”

“Naturally.”

He nods slowly. “You have something written up, I assume?”

There’s a ghost of a smirk on her face as she pulls a contract from a drawer. She holds it and a pen out with raised eyebrows.

Giovanni reads it slowly, but there doesn’t seem to be a trap. It simply repeats what she’d already said, but in a way that wouldn’t land either of them in prison should it be found.

Which is as good as it’s going to get. She needs a paper trail to prove he’d “agreed” to this, after all.

He signs everything away before he can start trying to think his way out of this.

He could kill her and make it out, but doing so while also finding Silver is another matter.

Not to mention the fact that she apparently knows who had taken him. If nothing else, he needs her alive until he finds a way of extracting that information. From her or someone else.

As he steps away from the desk, he picks the handkerchief and Sneasel’s pokeball up, tucking them into the pocket of his jacket.

“You have what you want. Now, where is he?”

Regina’s eyes skim the contract, lingering on his signature for a moment, and he can see the triumph burning in her eyes before she looks up at him.

“Of course. Follow me.”

This time she leads him down a hallway on the first floor.

No guards past the entrance to the hall. Not very surprising. How hard is it to contain a child, really?

“He’s been much better behaved than you ever were at this age,” Regina muses as she unlocks the door. “Or maybe it’s true that children behave better for their grandparents.”

Giovanni ignores her, brushing past and opening the door.

Silver’s still in the chair, and his head snaps up as soon as the door is opened.

He’s not visibly hurt, at least, Giovanni notes as he closes the door behind him.

Quietly, he walks over, sinking onto his knees in front of him and holds out the handkerchief and ball.

“I believe these are yours? Silver?”

Silver’s eyes are wide, and his knuckles white where he’s holding his knees to his chest, but once it’s clear Giovanni’s offering the items to him, he snatches them back with all the speed of an ekans, pulling them to his chest as he studies Giovanni, still not speaking.

“Has anyone here hurt you?” Giovanni asks after a moment, lightly setting a hand on Silver’s foot.

The boy tenses, but doesn’t jerk away and slowly shakes his head.

Giovanni nods, not taking his eyes off Silver’s face. He looks terrified, and whether that’s Regina’s fault or not, she’d certainly done nothing to make the current situation less stressful.

With a slight wince, he realizes that Silver doesn’t seem to recognize him, which means he’s also making things worse.

But they need to leave before Regina invents some reason to drag this out, or changes her mind about letting them go at all, and after a moment he slips his arms around Silver and picks him up out of the chair as he stands up.

Silver goes ridged but buries his face in Giovanni’s shoulder as his breathing speeds up.

Giovanni’s about to offer at least the promise of explanations, when he hears a small, hesitant voice say, “Father?”

The word hurts more than anything else he’s heard or done today. His grip on Silver tightens just a bit.

But at least it seems he’d been told something.

“Yes, it’s me,” Giovanni confirms after a moment, burying his face in Silver’s hair. “I’ll answer any questions you have soon, alright? For now, we just need to leave.”

Silver nods against his shoulder, and while he still feels on edge, he doesn’t protest as Giovanni turns back towards the door.

* * *

Silver is having a strange day.

He’d been pulled out of his cell long before any of the other kids would be up and dumped in the back of a van, where he’d remained until they arrived at a warehouse lot.

The doors to the van had been opened, revealing an older woman with gray eyes and hair, and a fur coat, and a short man, possibly older than her, who’d been leaning heavily on a cane and hadn’t looked at him after his mask had been pulled off at the woman’s request.

She’d studied him for a moment, before gesturing with a hand, and a guard had thrown a bag over his head.

Then he’d been in another car, and the woman had spoken to him for most of the drive, even though the bag remained in place, because, as she’d said, they couldn’t have him knowing where they’d picked him up.

What had caught his attention though, had been when she’d said something about his father coming.

She hadn’t elaborated, because the car had stopped right when she’d brought it up, but the word had echoed in his mind as he’d been cleaned up, and given new clothes (they’d taken his gloves, along with Sneasel and his handkerchief), and then left in a room that was really just a well-decorated cell.

So he’d sat, and wondered what would happen now, and if Green thought he’d run away without her, or if they’d tell the other kids he’d died.

And then the door had opened, and a man in a dark suit had entered and given him back his handkerchief and Sneasel (he supposes his gloves are just gone), and Silver had felt his breath catch when he’d said the word “father”.

He hasn’t said anything else though, even though he’s once again alone with his father (Giovanni, he’d heard the woman call him), in the plane they’d been driven to, as he sits quietly by a window, still confused.

He watches as the world outside starts moving, faster and faster until suddenly they’re leaving the ground, and he takes a sharp breath.

Giovanni is sitting across from him, and out the corner of his eye, Silver sees him look up at him, looking worried.

But Silver’s not scared. At least not of this. Green would be, he’s sure, and he wouldn’t blame her; she hates heights almost as much as birds, but he’s not.

It’s fascinating, really, watching as a city shrinks under them, if for no other reason than he knows there is now a lot of distance being put between him and The Mask.

Once they’re in the air, and it’s clear that Silver’s not panicking, his father starts pacing up and down the aisle.

Silver watches him, and the view out the window, as he tries to work out what’s going on.

He’s going home, apparently, but where is home? And who had the woman been? There had been tension between her and Giovanni, but there is the possibility that she’d collected him for him, in which case he’s even more hesitant to trust him. She’d been nicer than The Mask, but she’d still locked him up and taken Sneasel.

At the thought of Sneasel, his fingers drift to her ball in his pocket, and he looks back at Giovanni.

“Excuse me?” he says after a few seconds.

The man freezes in place and turns to face him.

“Yes?”

There’s no annoyance in his tone, and after a deep breath, Silver says, “Can I let Sneasel out? She’ll be quiet, I just…” want company, and something familiar, but why would his wants matter?

Giovanni blinks twice, and his lips part, before he nods. “Of course. You don’t need to ask.”

Silver’s brow knits, but he lets Sneasel out.

She materializes on the arm of his chair, and looks around, sniffing the air in confusion.

Behind her, Giovanni sinks onto a couch on the other side of the aisle, and after a moment, Sneasel jumps over to him, and Silver freezes.

He’d just said she’d be good.

But she’d not swatted away when she climbs into Giovanni’s lap, instead being met with a scratch behind the ears, which further confuses Silver.

“Do you have questions?” Giovanni asks him. Silver nods slowly, and he adds, “Go ahead then. It’s a long flight.”

“Where are we going?”

“Sinnoh. Near Mount Coronet, specifically. I have a place there.”

Sinnoh. Curious. Silver doesn’t know much about the region, just that it’s far north.

“We’ll get you some different clothes once we land too. You don’t look very comfortable in those.”

Silver tugs at the sleeve of his jacket as he nods. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

With a deep breath, Silver adds, “Who was that woman?”

Giovanni stays quiet for a minute, and Silver watches his expression carefully; ready to bolt if he needs to even though there isn’t anywhere to go.

“Someone who wanted something from me, and knew you were a way to get it,” he says finally.

So he’d been a hostage. Interesting. That means Giovanni had had something worth taking.

“Was it important?” he asks, wondering what anyone would want to give up just for him.

Giovanni studies him, his head tilted just a bit. “Not as important as you.”

Silver tilts his head, to a much more noticeable degree than his father.

Is he toying with him? Or does he really think Silver’s worth giving something up for?

Silver leans back in his chair, not sure if he wants to ask anything else. He still doesn’t know who the old man had been, but he hadn’t seen him again, so it’s possible that Giovanni won’t know either. The information won’t do him much good right now anyway. If it’s bothering him maybe he’ll be able to ask later.

And he knows where they’re going, which is all he’d needed, and more information than he’s used to having anyway.

Out the corner of his eye, he sees Sneasel stretching out in Giovanni’s lap as the man leans back, looking out the window behind him.

Quietly, Silver curls up in his chair, turning back towards the window.

He’s had a long day, and while he’s still not completely at ease, it doesn’t take very long before he feels his eyelids start to droop.

The last thing he registers before falling asleep is a blanket being wrapped around him.


	2. Chapter 2

With Silver asleep, Giovanni decides to use the remaining hours on the plane to try and get things in order.

His first call is to Blaine, with instructions to destroy anything related to Mew in the labs. Save the samples somewhere Regina won’t find them if he can, but otherwise, get rid of all of it. He’d like to continue on the Mewtwo project, but he can’t risk her getting something that powerful if he wants to be able to displace her again.

Blaine sounds almost relieved to do so and promises to try and stall anything she comes up with.

Then there’s Sabrina, whose instructions are similar; stall, and monitor, and are to be passed on to Surge and Koga as well.

The final call is to Orm, his bodyguard, who he can tell is less than enthused about his decision to meet with Regina without informing him, though his tone changes when Silver is mentioned. His instructions are simply to pack up anything in Giovanni’s desk, both at home and at base, along with the contents of his closet, and a few items from Silver’s old room that he’s both curious to see if he’ll remember, and doesn’t want Regina messing with.

With all that out of the way, he settles once again on the couch, studying Silver.

His face is relaxed for the first time today, his chest rising and falling slowly as he sleeps.

It had occurred to Giovanni right as the plane had taken off that the flight may drag up memories of Ho-oh, but Silver had only seemed fascinated by the view, so at least that had proven to be a non-issue.

He is confused by what his next steps need to be, however.

Feed him, get him in clothes that he’s not clearly uncomfortable in, get him home. That much is obvious. It’s everything else that eludes him.

He has no clue where he’d been and doubts Silver will be quick to give an explanation. He can take a guess at how he’d been treated, but that’s all. He has no idea what horrors the boy has been put through, and while he supposes most parents would consider that a mercy if he wants to get to whoever had hurt him, he has to know.

Next to Giovanni, Sneasel is curled up in a ball. She’s been surprisingly friendly, and he’s glad for it. Not just that she remembers him, but that her willingness to trust him may convince Silver that he can do the same.

Especially since now he thinks about it, Giovanni has no idea how to accomplish that on his own.

He knows how to get along with children, yes. It’s a requirement of running a gym (which he supposes he also won’t be doing now). But Silver is a far cry from the adoring ten-year-olds who fawn over anyone with a badge. He can’t afford to slip up at all.

* * *

Giovanni tries to sleep for the rest of the flight, in an attempt to stave off jet-lag, but he only manages an hour at most, and by the time they land, he’s spent several more hours pacing.

Silver had woken up two hours before they arrived in Sinnoh, but hadn’t wanted to talk, which had left him with nothing to do but plan.

Even though there’s nothing to plan until he knows what Regina’s doing next.

When they do land, at a smaller airport near Hearthome, some employee of Regina’s is waiting with car keys and shows them to a plain, black car before walking off to get a cab.

Giovanni stays out of the car, watching him walk off to make sure he’s actually leaving until he notices that Silver’s huddled up against him, with his arms crossed tightly.

Right.

Children get cold easily.

He unlocks the car and helps Silver climb into the back before slipping into the driver’s seat.

“We’ll get you a coat and some new clothes on the way to the house, okay?” he says as they leave the airport’s parking lot.

Silver nods, staring out the window with concerned eyes.

There’s a clothes store in Hearthome that looks passable, and Giovanni ushers Silver into it as quickly as he can. He isn’t cold, but Silver is both five and slightly underweight. Even if he’s doing a better job of hiding if he’s cold than he had been earlier.

“You can get what you want,” Giovanni tells him as Silver trails him through the store.

Silver’s eyes drift over everything, and after a moment he says, “Can I have gloves?”

Giovanni stares at him for a moment, startled both by the fact that he’d responded at all and by the request itself.

“Of course,” he says, guiding him to the appropriate section, and then steps back to let him examine the display.

As Silver cautiously looks through the gloves, Giovanni studies his hands. Now that he’s not focused on getting him away from Regina, he sees that his hands seem scarred from something that’s either burns or frostbite.

Interesting.

But it does explain the request for gloves, and once Silver picks up a pair of plain black ones, Giovanni brings him over to find a coat and isn’t very surprised when his eyes linger on the heaviest one available.

Just as well. Sinnoh’s winters aren’t pleasant.

By the time they leave, Silver’s in new, warmer, clothes, and has a backpack containing pajamas, a sweater, and his old clothes.

They can get more tomorrow when they’ve both had a chance to rest.

“Are you hungry?” Giovanni asks as he helps Silver back into the car. He’s met with a silent head shake and is left debating if he should believe him or not.

On one hand, he doesn’t know when the last time Silver ate was, but on the other, they’ll be at the house in a few hours if they don’t stop, and there is nonperishable food of some sort there, the place is more safe house than vacation home.

They’ll go to the house, he decides as he starts the car.

Taking Silver into a restaurant might be pushing his luck at this point anyway, the boy seems back on edge.

* * *

Sinnoh is cold.

Which had caught Silver off guard at the airport, and, lacking another heat source or actual jacket, he’d wound up clinging to his father for warmth until he’d been let in the car.

He’s not sure if he should consider the lack of punishment a good sign, or if he’s just being waited out, lured into a false sense of security before everything goes wrong.

But Giovanni has been at least non-harmful company all day, and Silver’s mood is improved drastically by his hands being covered again, as well as by the new coat currently wrapped around him as he climbs out of the car in the garage.

They’ve reached “home”.

It’s dark out, so he hadn’t gotten a good look at the exterior, but if this room is anything to go off of, the rest is probably big as well.

“This way,” he hears Giovanni say as a door gets opened. “Let’s get some food in you, and then you can lay down for a bit.”

Silver nods, and follows him out into a hallway. The room is dusty, but otherwise seems inhabitable, and Silver follows his father down the hall to a kitchen.

Giovanni gestures to a table and chairs, and after a brief hesitation, Silver sits down, watching as he digs through cupboards.

A box of energy bars gets set in front of Silver, and when he’s not told to do otherwise, he opens it and pulls one out, relieved to finally have something to eat. His last meal had been dinner in The Mask’s base.

But he still shakes his head when he’s asked if he wants more to eat. He can manage with just this, and Giovanni seems tired. There’s no point in being more of a burden.

Giovanni studies him for a few seconds after his silent answer but just nods.

Silver finishes his “meal” in silence, his eyes drifting slowly around the room as he eats.

There’s a knife block on the counter.

Probably silverware in one of the drawers too.

The table could be knocked on its side to block an attack, albeit not for long.

There are two exits, not counting the window.

Very open, but a lot of potential weapons.

A slow exhale leaves him as he finishes his food, and he looks back to Giovanni, who’s studying him with an expression he can’t read.

That’s one thing he’s going to need to work on. He really can’t tell what people are thinking off their faces. Not surprising, but he will need to work on it now. Learning someone’s tells is always a good way to stay out of trouble.

Or at least you know when to run.

Giovanni leads him up the stairs once he’s done, and Silver counts windows and rooms as they go.

The bedroom is huge, and his eyes flick over it as he steps in.

“I’ll be right across the hall if you need anything, okay? Try to get some sleep,” Giovanni’s saying behind him, and he looks back, confused but nodding.

Giovanni studies him for another few seconds, before he simply says, “Goodnight,” and closes the door, leaving Silver alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Silver’s been awake for two hours, and five minutes.

He knows this because he’s been keeping track, because there’s nothing else for him to do as he sits silently on his bed, waiting for some sign that he’s allowed to leave the room.

He’d slept decently well, by his standards at least, but he’s not sure what time it had been when he’d finally woken up, just that it had been two hours, and now six minutes ago.

He shouldn’t be counting seconds; it makes being alone worse, not better by highlighting how long he’s been sitting here doing nothing, but his mouth is dry, his lips chapped, and it’s distracting him from anything more complex like working his way through a type chart, which would be his usual method of keeping his mind occupied (until that stops working, and his thoughts wander down dark alleys anyway).

He hears footsteps in the hall and makes himself pull his gaze from the dark fabric of his bedspread.

Giovanni opens the door, slowly at first but then he sees that he’s awake and pushes it the rest of the way.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Two hours-” Silver has to clear his throat “- Two hours and ten minutes.”

Giovanni stares at him for a few seconds, his head tilting just a bit before he sighs and walks over.

“You didn’t have to wait for me.” He kneels down next to the bed. “The door wasn’t locked, you could have come out if you’d wanted to.”

Now it’s Silver’s turn to be confused, and he licks his lips as he tries to think of a response.

Suddenly there’s a hand under his chin, and Giovanni’s turning his face towards him.

Silver braces for a reprimand, though he’s not sure what for, but he just looks worried.

“Silver, when was the last time you had something to drink?”

He shakes his head. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he’d been thrown in that van, and the answer would be several hours before that.

Giovanni mutters something under his breath that Silver doesn’t catch, then stands up.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

So Silver stays, watching as he walks out.

Two minutes later, he’s back with a large glass of water.

“Drink this. Slowly.”

Silver nods as he takes the glass and raises it to his lips, doing his best to not gulp down the cool liquid. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he’d been.

“You have to tell me if you’re hungry or thirsty, okay? If you need anything, tell me. Does that make sense?”

No, but that’s clearly not the answer he’s after, so Silver nods.

Why leave the room without permission until he knew for sure he could? And he’d still been functional yesterday so that he hadn’t had anything to drink doesn’t seem like that big of a deal either.

Giovanni’s gaze lingers on him for a few more seconds, until Silver takes another large sip of the water, and he seems content that he really will finish it.

“Come downstairs when you’re ready,” he says as he stands up.

Silver nods again and watches as Giovanni walks out.

He still doesn’t see what the big deal is, but he sits on his bed, sipping at the water, and when he’s done, now that he has permission, he slides out of the bed and pads out of his room.

* * *

He’d forgotten to give him water.

Giovanni pinches the bridge of his nose as he forces out a sigh.

He’s in the kitchen, taking a moment to figure out how he’d managed to screw up that badly.

He’d been expecting some indication that Silver had needed something; even a newborn cries when thirsty, but clearly, he’s going to need to be more alert to everything since it seems he’s been taught to not ask for anything.

Presumably, that means he’d been lying about getting enough to eat as well.

With another slow sigh, Giovanni lowers his hand and looks around the room.

There’s no way around a trip into town for groceries, and Silver still needs more clothes. He’s not looking forward to navigating a crowded store at the moment, but living off energy bars and canned soup also isn’t an option.

He pulls a notepad out of a drawer, along with a pen, and starts piecing together a list.

What do children eat?

Scratch that; what does he feed a boy who’s likely been living off of little more than what’s currently in the pantry?

There’s a still-sealed package of coffee in one cupboard, and after ensuring that the coffeemaker hasn’t been turned into it’s own ecosystem while he was gone, he starts a pot.

He turns away from the counter, and jumps when he sees Silver standing only a few feet away from him.

How had he snuck up on him?

Koga struggles to do that, how had Silver managed it?

He forces down a deep breath, before saying, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”  
An unhelpful and unsurprising answer, but an answer nonetheless.

Careful to give Silver space, he steps around him to the table. Silver turns to face him as he sits down.

“What do you like to eat?” he asks after a moment. He may as well try.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want, or you don’t care what you eat?”

Silver’s brow knits in confusion, and Giovanni gestures towards the chair at the other end of the table.

Slowly the boy drifts over, climbing into the chair. He barely clears the table.

Deciding to try a different approach, Giovanni asks, “Are you still thirsty?” One glass is not enough to make up for what had likely been a full day with nothing to drink.

Silver tilts his head, bangs falling in his face, before he nods slowly. “A little bit.”

Giovanni nods, and when Silver tenses when he stands up, he makes a note to keep his movements as readable as possible.

He fills another glass, and Silver takes it without meeting his eyes.

* * *

More shopping.

Silver understands that they need the food, and he’s curious about how it now seems there will be some more variety in what he’s eating.

What he doesn’t understand, is why it seems he’s required to have an opinion on both the food and whatever Giovanni is currently trying to get his thoughts on.

He has clothes. They’d gotten more yesterday. He can keep them in decent condition, so why does he need more?

This feels like a trap. What’s the right answer?

“The red one,” he says after a few more seconds of thought, counting on their current location to at least buy him time if he’d made the wrong decision.

“Sounds good,” is Giovanni’s simple reply, as he takes the shirt of the rack, and places it in the cart along with the blanket and sheets he’d added earlier.

Silver notices that the other garments that get added over the course of the expedition all suddenly lean towards the same dark red color.

So long as they have sleeves, he supposes they’ll be fine.

As they continue through the store, Silver gets slightly more confident. He’s yet to get in trouble for answering a question, though he also just nods in response to every suggestion, not wanting to chance refusing something.

And it’s not that he minds new clothes. The sweater he’d gotten yesterday is warm, and its collar comes up over his neck, which he likes. And the pajamas were by far the most comfortable thing he’s ever slept in.

He’s just not sure why he needs this much.

As Giovanni looks through a shelf for the right size, Silver’s attention gets caught by a display at the end of the aisle.

Quietly he pads over, taking care to not stray farther than he needs to.

The rack holds a bunch of small toys made to look like pokemon that hang on small chains, likely meant to be clipped onto something, and the one that had grabbed his attention is a jigglypuff.

His thoughts drift to Green and Jiggly, as he casts a slow, subtle glance around, shifting so his back is to the only camera that has a clear view of him as he slips it off its hook and promptly tucks it into the bulky sleeve of his sweater.

Giovanni glances at him as he pads back over, and Silver stiffens when his hand settles on his shoulder.

“I suppose we have enough for now. Are you ready to head back?”

“Yes, sir.” He winces when the “sir” leaves his mouth; he hadn’t meant to say it, he’s yet to be required to.

But Giovanni just gives him a slightly worried look, before leading him towards the counter.


	4. Chapter 4

A childhood of being spied on by staff had left Giovanni far more stubbornly independent than Regina had likely intended.

He’d come to the conclusion years ago that if he was capable of living without a maid or cook, then he would, and he’s sure that fact is the source behind some of that woman’s worst nightmares.

But really, it’s more practical anyway; no cook means no one to be bribed into poisoning him. No maid means no one looking through his desk in exchange for whatever pittance some agent had promised them.

All this to say that, while his cooking is by no means the best he’s had, he’s competent enough to feed himself and to not have to live off of the same two basic meals constantly.

It has been a while since he’s had to cook for anyone else, but Silver is proving to be as far from a picky eater as it’s possible to get. Every meal thus far has been met with wide eyes, and on a few occasions inquiry as to what it is, and he’s cleared every plate he’s been given.

The wide-eyed appreciation is enjoyable, really.

Currently, they’re sitting in the kitchen, Silver finishing the last of his dinner as Giovanni sits across from him, simply providing company because as much as he seems to think otherwise, Silver doesn’t handle being alone very well.

Tonight he seems particularly on edge, picking at the table cloth as he eats, and his brow is knit as if he’s deep in thought.

But he’s yet to decide to share what’s on his mind, which leaves Giovanni with his own thoughts.

He’d gotten a call from Sabrina. Regina had wasted little time in taking over, and while she’s spent most of her week back in power digging through papers to work out what he’d been doing, she’s also been quick to start working her way through the organization, needling out anyone she considers too soft, or too likely to still be in contact with him.

Which had been Sabrina’s method of telling him that any contact will be sparse at best.

But at least it seems that for now, she doesn’t have a concrete plan.

He’s not sure if that’s good or not.

Across the table, he hears Silver go still, and he looks over at him.

Silver’s biting his lip, and after a moment he says, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Giovanni sits back, full attention on the hesitant child in front of him.

Silver nods slowly, setting his fork down before saying, “When you went to that house to get me, was there an old man there?”

“Not that I noticed. Why?” This is interesting. Had Regina done something? Or is this about something else, like where he’d been before?

Silver’s quiet again, and right when Giovanni’s about to give up on getting more information out of this conversation, he says, “It’s just when she got me from…” He pales, before shaking his head. “When I got brought to her, there was a man there who looked older than her. I hadn’t seen anyone like him before, so I thought he was with her.”

“Do you remember anything else about him?”

Silver’s back to picking at the tablecloth now, and he shrugs. “I’m not good at faces, and he wouldn’t look at me anyway after they took my mask off. He was shorter than her though. And he had a cane.”

His mask?

No, he can dig into that later.

“Short with a cane” isn’t the best starting point, but it is a starting point. And someone who knows Regina well enough to let something about having Silver slip… He has work to do later.

“That doesn’t sound like anyone I can think of who would have been there, but thank you for telling me. I can look into it if you want.”

Silver shakes his head. “It’s not a big deal.”

Giovanni disagrees, but he doesn’t press the issue. Silver had asked a question on his own, that alone is progress regardless of where this new lead takes him.

* * *

The package from Orm arrives quicker that Giovanni had expected, and takes most of an afternoon to sort through.

Clothes wind up in a somewhat neat pile on the couch, papers and a few photographs stacked on the coffee table until he decides what to do with them, and Silver’s old things are set out on a chair while Giovanni debates if his impulsive decision to give them back to him was a good idea or not.

He doesn’t expect him to remember anything, but Silver’s also still lacking in anything beyond bare essentials, so he may as well hand over the old dolls and blanket.

Though judging by how Sneasel’s been eyeing the quilt, it may wind up being added to a stash somewhere before Silver ever gets his hands on it anyway.

Sure enough, as soon as he starts to move away from all of it, the ice type darts out, lunging for the blanket, and Giovanni grabs her, letting her work her way onto his shoulder even as she hisses at him for stopping her.

He may as well find Silver before he starts putting things away.

A few minutes of looking through the house, and he finds Silver in a guestroom, hidden between the bed and the far wall and given away by Sneasel when she runs over to him.

“Everything okay?” he asks, studying where Silver’s curled up. His hands are stuffed in the pocket of his sweatshirt, and he looks startled.

“Yes. Why?”

“There’s something I want to show you. Do you feel like coming downstairs?”

Silver studies him for a few seconds, before nodding, and crawling out from his hiding place.

Giovanni steps back as he stands up, before leading him back downstairs.

He hears when Silver’s footsteps falter once they reach the living room, and he looks back to see him lingering in the doorway.

“These were yours,” Giovanni says, sitting down in the chair that isn’t covered in toys. “Do you remember any of them?”

Silver stares at the plushes, his head tilted. There’s a teddiursa, a croconaw, and the blanket Sneasel had been after earlier.

There’s more back in Kanto, of course, but these are what he remembers seeing carried around the most, and thus the most likely to spark a memory.

Slowly, Silver walks over, picking up the teddiursa and regarding it with an expression Giovanni can’t read.

“I don’t know,” he says finally.

He looks apologetic, and Giovanni fights the urge to hold him.

“That’s fine, I just thought it was worth seeing if you did.”

Silver holds the doll out to him, studying the floor.

“If you want to keep them you can.”

Silver’s brow knits, and he looks back up. “I can?”

“Of course. That’s why I had them sent here to begin with.”

Still looking confused, Silver turns his attention back to the doll, and after a moment pulls it against his chest.

“Thank you.”

* * *

Once Silver gets back up to “his” room with the toys and blanket, he sets them all on his bed, then climbs onto it himself.

After listening for a moment to make sure no one’s in the hall, he pulls the jigglypuff toy he’d found a few days ago out of his pocket where he’d been keeping it, and sets it between the two bigger dolls.

Silently, he studies his collection.

He’s not sure what to do with any of them. He likes the jigglypuff because it reminds him of Green, even though she probably thinks he’s dead, but beyond that, he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with “toys”.

Sneasel jumps onto the bed behind him, and he watches as she picks up the blanket, and drags it off to the dresser drawer he’d left empty for her to sleep in.

At least that’s getting put to use.

Carefully, he picks up the croconaw and pulls it into his lap. It’s big enough that he can sort of lean against it while he has it like this, and he sits like that for a while, his arms wrapped around the toy as Sneasel packs the blanket into her stash.

It’s strange to be confronted with proof that he’d had this before.

He’d always understood that just because he couldn’t remember anything from before The Mask didn’t mean there hadn’t been anything, but these are things he’d actually had back then. It makes it all seem much more concrete.

Quietly, he flops onto his side, still curled around the doll.

It’s been a very long week.


	5. Chapter 5

The sound of the ornament shattering makes Silver jump back as he stares in quiet horror at the broken pieces of glass covering the floor.

He’d bumped into the shelf, and sent the vase plummeting to the hard wood floor under his feet; where it had promptly shattered beyond any hope of repair.

He stays still for a few more precious seconds as he weighs his options, before he brushes as much of the glass as he can onto his handkerchief, grateful for his gloves keeping the shards off his skin, then slides a bottom drawer out of the cabinet and dumps the glass into the empty space before replacing the empty drawer, and standing up to study his work.

No sign of the shattered glass.

No sign he’d done anything wrong at all.

He still darts down the hall in search of somewhere to hide after a few seconds of thought.

Sure, he hasn’t gotten in trouble for anything yet, but he’d also done his best to minimize reasons for punishments.

He finds a room that looks unused and slips in.

He closes the door as quietly as he can, before slipping into the small space between a bookshelf and the corner of the room.

Enclosed spaces, though never comfortable, bring with them the reassurance that he only has to watch one direction. (Never mind that he doesn’t have a good way out of here.)

He stays still, letting his breathing slow down from the almost painful hyperventilating it had reached on his way here, and he lets his forehead rest on his knees.

If he stays still, and small, and out of the way, he’s safe.

Except not really, because what he’s hiding from had been entirely his fault, and there’s no one else here to blame anyway.

He’s not sure how long he stays curled up there, but at some point, his legs start hurting. But he doesn’t move, just makes himself take deeper breaths, trying to breathe through the cramps and pain.

Eventually, he hears footsteps in the hall and knows he’s been caught to some extent when the door opens.

“Silver?” Giovanni sounds almost worried as he walks into the room.

Silver doesn’t say anything, just slowly unfolds himself out of his hiding place, and keeps his gaze firmly on the floor.

“Is something wrong?” Giovanni sinks down in front of him, and Silver only notices now that his gloves are covered in a thin layer of glass dust, which Giovanni has almost certainly noticed.

Does he own up? Or keep lying? Either option will land him in trouble, he’s sure.

He’s shaking and takes a slow step forward to try and keep his balance.

Giovanni misreads the movement, and Silver feels an arm slip around him, drawing him closer until he’s against the silky fabric of his father’s jacket.

He keeps his hands between them, hiding the incriminating dust, as a hand settles on the back of his head, and he wonders if he’s really not in trouble.

Quietly, he curls closer and tucks his head into Giovanni’s shoulder.

“Silver?” Giovanni still sounds concerned, and Silver shakes his head.

Giovanni shifts, so he’s sitting with his back against the bookshelf, and Silver ends up in his lap, face still hidden in his jacket.

“I heard something break. Did you cut yourself?”

Silver goes ridged at the question, and his grip on Giovanni’s jacket tightens more, but he makes himself shake his head.

A warm hand rubs his back, and he feels Giovanni sigh.

“Everything’s okay then, alright?”

Silver’s brow knits. Had he not seen the dust? Or is this his way of telling Silver that he’s not in trouble?

“Alright,” Silver mumbles finally.

* * *

Giovanni stays still on the couch, listening to the news on the TV.

Several large fires had broken out in Saffron a few hours ago, and surprising no one, Team Rocket is responsible.

Which leaves him trying to work out what Regina’s doing.

Because this was far too bold to have only been about whatever power play or threat she’s trying to make.

It could be about Silph. He’d had plans regarding it, of course, but they’d all been much more long term. Once he knew the master ball worked, and that at least one non-prototype had been made, and ideally had at least a few scientists on his side.

All that is years away though.

The detective being interviewed continues on about details (or rather the lack thereof), and Giovanni lays down on the couch, half-listening as he tries to think.

Most likely, it’s aimed at Sabrina. If something similar happens in Fuchsia, Vermilion, or Cinnabar, he supposes he’ll have his answer.

More merciful than he’d been to any of Regina’s executives when he’d taken over, but then making half a region’s league disappear overnight is a poor move for several reasons.

His eyes close as he tries to think his way through this. What would he have done this for?

At some point, a small, gloved, finger pokes his cheek, and he sucks in a startled breath.

He opens one eye to see Silver standing next to him, looking hesitant.

“Need something?”

Silver nods. “Is it okay if I go to bed?”

He blinks slowly, not fully understanding the point of the question until it hits him that he’s made a habit of walking Silver to bed every night to tuck him in, mainly so he can have the peace of mind of knowing he’s there and that his room is somewhat secure. He’d gotten distracted by the news tonight and hadn’t done it, but apparently Silver had interpreted it as him needing permission to sleep.

With a slow sigh, he sits up.

“Of course. You don’t need to ask. Do you want me to tuck you in?”

Silver nods again, and cautiously takes Giovanni’s hand when offered.

Silver’s gaze stays glued to the floor as they head upstairs, and Giovanni rubs the back of his hand with his thumb.

He hadn’t said anything more about the broken vase this morning, and Silver seems to have gotten over his panic about it. He’d also cleaned the dust off his gloves, which is good because the last thing Giovanni needs right now is to have to take him to the hospital because he’d rubbed glass into his eyes.

That he’d been scared by the accident makes sense, though Giovanni’s not entirely sure what he’d done to calm him down after. Maybe dismissing it had really been enough?

They reach Silver’s room, and Giovanni drops his hand so he can climb into bed.

The queen size mattress is almost comically too big for his small frame, but it does hopefully decrease the chance of him rolling out. Judging by the state of his blankets each morning he’s far from a calm sleeper.

As Silver settles between the teddiursa and croconaw dolls, Giovanni pulls his blanket over him, and sits on the edge of the bed, studying him for a moment.

It’s only been two weeks, and Silver’s still very flighty, but they have made progress, as evidenced by the fact that he’s able to stay in here at all.

“Goodnight, Silver.”

* * *

Sunlight peaking through a crack in the curtains is what wakes Silver up.

Quietly, he crawls out of bed and drifts over to the window, where he can see Giovanni looking over his team in the yard below.

He does this every morning, and every morning, if he’s up in time, Silver sits in the chair by the window watching.

He’s not sure if he has to stay inside, but it’s kind of nice to sit and take things in, work out more about his father from how he interacts with his team.

He seems more distant with them than he is with Silver, for one thing. Or maybe larger pokemon just tend to be standoffish, he’s not sure.

The rest of the view out the window is nice too. The snow on the mountaintops is too far away to seem like anything more than a pretty coating from here, and he likes the way light hits the peaks as the sun comes up.

He can’t remember seeing a sunrise before coming here.

Sneasel jumps up onto the windowsill, and Silver scratches behind her ear.

Out in the yard, the nidoking looks up suddenly, and Silver freezes when he realizes it had spotted him.

Before he can duck out of sight, Giovanni turns around, scanning the house with a worried expression, until he spots Silver too.

Silver watches as he raises his arm in… greeting? An invitation to come outside?

Confused, he waves back, and after a few seconds steps away from the window.

Another moment or so, and he grabs a sweater and heads downstairs.

Now that Giovanni knows he’s up, he probably shouldn’t stay in his room anyway.

Silently, he pads out of his room and down the stairs to the backdoor, which he pushes open to find a small porch with a table and chairs.

Giovanni’s not there though, he’s still out on the frost-covered grass, which Silver walks out on barefoot.

The nidoking looks over at him again as he approaches, and Giovanni turns to see him.

“Good morning, Silver.”

“Good morning,” he says after a moment, padding over to stand a few inches away from him, and looks over the rest of his team as the nidoking turns his back and wanders away.

“Where are your shoes?”

Silver looks up at the question, before simply saying, “I'm not cold.”

He hears Giovanni sigh, but the next question is unrelated, “Do you know what they all are?”

“Yes.” He really tries to not be offended by the question. “Nidoking, nidoqueen, ryhorn, beedrill…” Wait… “They’re all more common in Kanto, right?”

Giovanni looks surprised, but he nods. “Yes. I'm normally in Viridian in Kanto. We’re staying here because of…”

“Her?”

“Yes.”

Silver nods slowly, before a thought occurs to him, “So I’m from Viridian?”

“You are. The house is near the forest and the gym.”

Giovanni looks almost somber, but Silver’s hung up on the last bit of what he’d said.

“The gym?”

“I… Do you know what The League is?”

Silver shakes his head.

“It’s a challenge children, usually around eleven, take on. They battle gym leaders as part of it, and I run the one in Viridian. Usually, at least.”

“Oh.”

Come to think of it, he does think he’s heard about The League before. Something Green had said maybe? Or one of the other kids? Or maybe they’d had to break into one of the “gyms”? It’s probably not important though.

With a slow sigh, he looks over the yard again. Despite the chill in the air, it’s nice to be outside.


	6. Chapter 6

A glance out the window is all it takes to confirm that there’s a storm coming. Likely a bad one.

Oh well, one of the things that makes this house a good hiding place is that for parts of the year it’s almost impossible to get to.

There’s a generator should the power go out, the kitchen is stocked, and digging out the driveway would be a likely welcome change of routine for his team, so Giovanni isn’t concerned, even as the wind picks up and the snow begins falling.

At some point, as he’s starting a fire in the living room’s fireplace, however, it occurs to him that it’s been a few hours since he last saw Silver, and he freezes as a log falls from his hand to the flames.

Silver wouldn’t have left the house. It’s still a struggle to get him to do anything without permission, Giovanni would be astounded if he’d left the building on his own.

So he’s not out in the quickly deepening snow. Which means he’s somewhere in the house.

Giovanni stands up quickly, walking out of the room, trying to remember where Silver tends to hide. Except he hasn’t really used the same hiding place twice.

They tend to be cramped, but that doesn’t narrow things down.

He is usually upstairs though, which is a start.

Trying to be as quick and thorough as he can, Giovanni starts searching each room on the second floor, until finally, he notices that a blanket is missing from a bed in a guestroom.

Silver isn’t in that room, but when Giovanni opens the closet across the hall, he finds Silver huddled up in the back, wrapped in the heavy quilt, with Sneasel huddled up next to him.

He’s shaking. Badly. And Giovanni can hear his rapid breathing from the doorway.

Slowly, he sinks to his knees.

“Don’t like the storm?” he asks after a moment, unable to come up with another reason for him to be this panicked.

Silver’s eyes drift up to his face, but his expression is vacant, and he doesn’t say anything.

“Come here?” Giovanni holds out a hand in what he hopes will be taken as an inviting gesture.

Slowly, Silver works his way over, bringing the blanket with. Once he’s close enough, Giovanni picks both him and the quilt up before standing up. Sneasel jumps onto his back as he turns around.

Silver stays silent and shivering, but he doesn’t protest as Giovanni walks back down the stairs.

Once they reach the living room, he sinks into the armchair closest to the fireplace and lets Silver curl up, still mostly hidden under the blanket, as Sneasel settles on his knee, making concerned coos as she lays back against her boy.

For a long time, they stay there, as the tension slowly leaves Silver’s rigid shoulders, and Giovanni feels his fingers curl into his shirt.

Giovanni slowly traces circles on the boy’s back, wondering what to make of this new behavior.

Yes, small children are often scared by harsh weather, but a simple fear of the noise the wind is making doesn’t seem likely to send him panicking in the closet.

Silver shifts, so his face isn’t hidden by the quilt anymore, and he resettles his head so he can stare at the fire.

“You know, if you ever want to talk about what happened to you, you can,” Giovanni says after a few minutes, once it seems Silver’s actually calmed down.

He doesn’t expect a response, but Silver tilts his head back, and says, “You want to know?”

“If you want to tell me, yes.”

Silver nods against his chest and doesn’t say anything for a while, until, “How long is the storm supposed to last?”

“Most of today, I believe.”

“Oh.”

“Does it bother you?”

Silver’s grip on his shirt tightens slightly. “I don’t like the wind.”

Giovanni nods, still rubbing Silver’s back.

His reaction might help narrow down where he’d been held.

Alternatively, it could point towards a type preference of whoever had taken him. Ice? Or maybe flying, since he claims it’s the wind bothering him, and still clings on Sneasel as much as before. But then the frostbite on his hands...

“Well, if the storm keeps up, and if it will make you feel safer, you’re welcome to stay in my room tonight.”

The offer slips out without much thought, and Silver’s brow knits.

But after a few seconds, he nods slowly. “If it’s still storming.”

* * *

The storm doesn’t stop.

In fact, as far as Silver’s concerned, it gets worse.

So he does wind up getting tucked into Giovanni’s bed, instead of his own, glad for the feeling of a warm presence next to him, as well as the fact that it seems he can stay until morning, which is a strange concept.

His and Green’s cells had been next to each other, so all it had taken to be able to go between them had been a tampered with air vent in the wall. He’d slipped into her room more than once just to be warm for a bit, curled up next to her. But he’d always had to slip out after an hour or two.

Giovanni stays sitting next to him, a book resting on his knee, and Silver is silently grateful for the light he’s kept on as he settles on his side, with his back to him.

He does manage to doze off, after a lot of tossing and turning and trying to convince himself that he can stay. No matter how on edge he is, the bed is warm, and he’s tired.

A particularly loud gust of wind against the window jerks him awake sometime later, and he’s back to curling up, shivering and trying not to whimper.

It’s not The Mask. It’s just the storm.

He only sort of believes himself.

There’s a warm hand on his arm, and he goes very still.

“Are you okay, Silver?” Giovanni sounds tired.

He nods, staying curled up even though he’s not cold.

There’s a small part of him that wants to be held, if only for the warmth, but he’s scared to act on it.

Giovanni rubs his arm once, before pulling his hand back.

Silver doesn’t want the contact to end, but he’s also not sure how to explain that. Or if he should.

“I’m going to ask you something, and you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to, alright Silver?”

The question startles him, but he nods, knowing he’s going to have to answer it either way. No one means it when they say you can withhold information.

“Is the storm scaring you because of where you were before?”

Silver’s fingers dig into the heavy down comforter as he nods again.

He doesn’t say anything else, and after a moment, he feels a kiss against the top of his head.

“You’re safe. Try and get some more sleep, okay?”

“Okay.”

* * *

By the next morning, the storm has stopped, and the snow’s too deep to leave the house.

A fact that hadn’t stopped Sneasel from darting out to go mess around in it, though Silver stays inside, buried under several blankets in the living room.

He’s still confused as to why he’s not in trouble for panicking so much yesterday, but he’s decided that bringing it up would be a bad idea.

There’s also the question of what to do about the fact that his father wants to know about what had happened to him.

It makes sense that he does, but he’s not sure how to explain all of it, especially since he doesn’t remember large chunks of it.

Out the window, he can see Sneasel jumping around in the snow, and he watches her quietly.

He wishes she could talk and help him figure this out.

Really, he wishes Green was here because she’d be able to explain things, but he doubts he’s ever going to see her again.

Hopefully, she’ll carry out their escape plan on her own. They’d purposefully made it doable with just one person, in case something happened to the other, though Silver suspects Green had expected she’d be the one unable to leave.

And, if she does get away, then all she has to do is go to Pallet, and in theory, she’ll be home too.

Come to think of it though, isn’t Viridian near Pallet? If they ever go back to Kanto, maybe he could run into her.

If she gets away.

Something gets set on the coffee table next to him, and he looks over to see a mug of tea.

“Thank you,” he mumbles as Giovanni sits down on the other side of the room.

“Of course.”

Carefully, Silver picks it up. It’s still a little too hot, but that doesn’t stop him from taking a large sip.

He stays quiet for another few minutes, watching Giovanni. He’s holding a book that he hasn’t opened yet, and his gaze is fixed on Sneasel out in the yard.

Finally, Silver takes a deep breath, and says, “Yesterday, you said you wanted to know about what happened to me.”

Giovanni jumps and looks over. “Only if you want to talk about it.”

Silver nods slowly, confidence fading now that he’s been given an out, however temporary he thinks it will be.

“Why?” he asks after a few seconds.

Giovanni’s quiet for long enough that Silver starts to wonder if he’s being ignored, before he finally says, “I want to find whoever took you. They deserve to pay for what they did. And I think I can help you get better more if I know what happened. But you don’t have to tell me anything until you’re ready.”

Silver nods slowly, still hung up on the fact that he seems to be allowed to take his time.


	7. Chapter 7

It’s not that a meeting is a bad idea.

Giovanni’s just not entirely certain that hiding everything that needs to be hidden from Silver will be possible, given his habit of sneaking around, and Giovanni’s remaining inability to tell when the boy’s spying on him.

But Blaine’s in Sinnoh anyway, and in-person orders will be the hardest for Regina to find out about.

So here he is, in the train station in Hearthome, waiting for Blaine as Silver clings to the sleeve of his coat. Giovanni’s trying to ignore the way he seems to be sizing up everyone else in the station.

He feels Silver tense up and looks down to see him staring off towards the train. Following his gaze reveals Blaine walking towards them.

“That’s who we’re here to meet, he’s fine,” Giovanni says as he sets a hand on Silver’s shoulder in what he hopes will be taken as a comforting action and not a reprimand.

“Okay.”

Silver doesn’t relax, but he lets his gaze drop.

“How was your trip?” Giovanni asks once Blaine reaches them.

“Long.” His gaze drifts to Silver and he adds, “It’s nice to meet you, Silver.”

Silver shrinks back behind Giovanni, studying Blaine warily.

The drive to the house is long, and made tense by Silver’s continued monitoring of Blaine, though to his credit, the scientist seems unconcerned with him.

Silver disappears down a hall once they reach the house, and Giovanni leads Blaine further into the house.

“How’s he doing?” Blaine asks as he opens the door to the living room.

Giovanni sinks into an armchair with a slow sigh. “He’s very… twitchy. There was a blizzard a week ago, he’s still on edge from that.”

Blaine nods. “Has he said anything about what happened? Or did Regina?”

Giovanni sighs as he leans back. “According to Regina, some acquaintance of hers wound up with him. She is connected enough to know someone capable of controlling Ho-oh, or there could be a third party. Both options are bad. As for Silver, all he’s said is that when she collected him there was a ‘short, old man with a cane’.”

Blaine nods. “You said he didn’t like the storm?”

“It reminded him of something that happened, but he won’t elaborate. I think he’s considering talking about it, but he keeps changing his mind.”

Which is fine.

Giovanni can be patient.

Were it him and Regina in this situation, he’d have long since been locked up until he gave whatever information was being sought.

So Silver is more than welcome to take his time. He won’t press. Silver trusting him outweighs getting revenge.

Blaine nods as he sits down. “How much did you want to know about what’s going on back home then?”

“What happened in Saffron?”

“Sabrina didn’t want to go forward with a plan. Felt that it would risk her cover. And she was right. So Madame Boss decided to make a point about us being disposable by torching the city.” If Blaine had noticed Giovanni flinching at the title he didn’t react. “I don’t think the gym was too badly damaged, but Sabrina’s on edge, and swamped with work in the city. Don’t expect to be hearing too much from her. And I imagine we’ll all be getting replaced at some point.”

Giovanni nods, his gaze drifting around the room, and up to the second floor’s balcony. He doubts Silver’s bold enough to be eavesdropping, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

“What about with the labs?”

“Asked about Mew right away. I still have the samples, but if she gets nosy I’m burning them.”

“That’s fine.” It’s a big hit to take, those samples were a once in a lifetime chance most likely, but Regina doesn’t need to get her hands on them. “Anything else?”

“Nothing really. I think she’s still getting a handle on things.” Blaine leans back on the couch, looking thoughtful. “There was a meeting with the Johto leaders a few days after you left. Pryce seems twitchy. It’s probably unrelated though, I can’t imagine what she’d have on him.”

* * *

As soon as they’d gotten home, Silver had darted off.

Presumably, Giovanni wouldn’t be letting someone who was a blatant threat into the house, but Silver still doesn’t want to spend more time with Blaine than he has to.

But he does want to know what they’re talking about.

So he’d gone upstairs and settled on his belly by the balcony over the living room. He’s far enough back and down to be out of sight, and he lets his headrest on his arms, eyes closed as he listens.

So Regina is the name of the woman who’d gotten him from The Mask. And he’d been right about Giovanni not liking her, and Blaine doesn’t seem to either.

He doesn’t know who Sabrina is. Or why she’d argue with orders. But the consequences sound particularly extreme.

He does think he’s heard of Mew before. Some book Green had been reading as part of their studies and mentioned to him, maybe. What samples does Blaine have? And why can’t Regina get them?

The conversation shifts to the League (so is Blaine also a gym leader?), and Silver inches back until he can stand up without being noticed.

He’s more confused than anything, but at least he knows a little about what’s going on.

For the rest of the day, Silver keeps to himself. Blaine’s apparently leaving in the morning with the car they got from the man at the airport, so avoiding him shouldn’t be too difficult.

Or so he thought.

In his attempts to stay out of sight, Silver had gone exploring through the rest of the house, and towards evening, he wanders into a room that looks like an office, to find Giovanni and Blaine sitting in two armchairs, discussing something that gets abruptly cut-off when they realize he’s in the room.

Silver takes a slow step back, debating if he should apologize or just go out, but Giovanni waves him in.

“You can be in here. Do you need something?”

Silver shakes his head as he walks over.

There’s just enough room in the chair for him to sit too, and when there’s no indication he can’t, he squeezes in next to his father and lets out a slow sigh when an arm wraps around his shoulders.

“What do you think of Sinnoh, Silver?” Blaine asks, studying him with the same thoughtful expression he’d had at the train station.

Silver stays quiet for a minute, leaning into Giovanni slightly more than he’d meant to, but he’s tired, and his father is warm.

“It’s nice.” He doesn’t want to sound like he’s complaining by adding that it’s cold. “The mountains are pretty.” That’s true. Even if he had had windows before, he’d probably still like the view out of his.

Hiding a yawn, Silver makes himself sit straighter, and he notices Giovanni checking his watch as Blaine nods.

“Are you ready for bed?”

Silver nods, not sure what other response he could give.

His eyes widen as he’s pulled into Giovanni’s lap, and he grabs at the smooth fabric of his shirt when he stands up, but Silver doesn’t go crashing to the floor.

Instead, he stays held against his father’s chest, warm arms wrapped firmly around him as Giovanni carries him out and to his room.

For a brief few seconds, he wonders if he is in trouble, but it doesn’t feel like he’s being carried off for a punishment. Unless letting his guard down is part of the punishment.

But he just gets carried to his room, and then gets set down so he can change into pajamas, which he takes his time doing because it’s hard to button things with gloves on.

Warm fingers ruffle his hair once he’s tucked in, and then he’s left to mull over everything he’d overheard again.

* * *

“What do the League Directors think about me being gone?”

Blaine looks over from where he’s loading his suitcase into the trunk of the car from Regina’s lackey.

“Would you be horribly offended if I said they don’t seem too concerned? I said you’d had a family emergency, and would be gone for a while. Not really a lie.”

“A very optimistic way to put it though.”

“You don’t think we can deal with her?”

Giovanni sighs as he steps all the way into the garage, letting the door shut behind him.

“I can’t take Silver back to Kanto right now. Even if Regina didn’t try something, whoever took him the first time could still be keeping an eye out. No one who knows her would think she’d wanted to keep him around.”

“Then don’t. We’ll handle things.” Giovanni’s eyes narrow, and he adds, “We’ll still report back of course, but if you can’t leave, you can’t. You should stay with him anyway. And if any of us were in your position, you’d be telling us not to make things personal.”

Giovanni nods, advice from Blaine being slightly less grating than it would from someone else if only due to his age and the fact that he’d worked under Regina when she’d originally been in charge.

“Does Silver know who she is?” Blaine adds after a moment.

“I haven’t told him. He’s probably better off not knowing anyway, but if he gets insistent I’ll explain something.” Not everything. Not yet at least. But if he makes a habit of with-holding information then it will be that much harder to convince Silver that he can be trusted. Even if it seems cruel to tell him he’s related to the witch.

Blaine nods, opening the car door as the garage slowly opens.

“I’ll let you know if anything changes. Good luck.”


	8. Chapter 8

The scream jerks Giovanni’s attention away from the book, and he’s halfway down the hall to Silver’s room before he hears a thump, and by the time he’s opened the door, Silver’s on the floor, huddled up and panting.

“Bad dream?” Giovanni asks, making his voice stay soft as he tries to catch his own breath. Despite himself, his gaze flicks briefly to the still-whole window as he walks over, sinking down a little ways away from Silver.

“Just fell out of bed,” Silver mumbles, not meeting his eyes.

Giovanni holds a hand out, and Silver stares at it for a moment, before slowly crawling over.

He’s shivering.

Carefully, Giovanni picks him up, holding him close for a few seconds, murmuring meaningless, soothing words in his ear as he eases him back onto the bed.

Three years ago, a nightmare could have been resolved just by him offering to stay, but now he’s not sure what will help.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks, unable to come up with anything else.

Silver stays quiet, his gaze on his hands in his lap. His head shakes just a little, and he starts to lay back down.

“I’m fine.”

Giovanni sets a hand on his shoulder as Silver rolls onto his side with his back to him.

“Would you like me to stay?” he offers, not wanting to leave him in here without doing so.

Silver doesn’t move for a few seconds, before nodding slowly.

Giovanni shifts, so he’s leaning his back against the bed. He leaves on hand on the mattress, though he doubts Silver will actually take it.

And he doesn’t. But at some point, his breathing does even out enough that Giovanni thinks he’s fallen asleep, and he draws his arm back to rest on his bent knee.

He knows he’s going to regret it come morning, but he’s hesitant to leave. Silver had wanted him to stay, and he doesn’t want to find out what implications the boy will read into waking up by himself after doing so.

With a deep breath, he lets his head settle on the mattress, and closes his eyes.

He had missed even this; being pulled away from sleep or paperwork because he’d been needed by the one single person to, even now, find his presence comforting.

Silver moves and Giovanni opens his eyes, looking over long enough to see that he’s just resettling on his back.

He reaches over to brush the hair out of Silver’s face, before letting his eyes drift shut again.

* * *

Something feels different when Silver wakes up, and when he opens his eyes, he finds his father still asleep next to the bed in a position that doesn’t look comfortable.

He sits up quickly, and inches over, confused.

He knows he’d had a nightmare last night, and apparently made enough noise to attract attention. And he remembers saying he wanted him to stay when he really thinks about it, but he doesn’t understand why he’d spent the full night in here.

The mattress creaks under him, and he freezes as Giovanni’s eyes flick open, and dart to him.

“Good morning,” Giovanni says quietly, and Silver tilts his head.

“You didn’t have to stay,” he says after a few seconds.

“You asked me to,” is the simple response, and Silver’s brow knits in further confusion.

But clearly, he’s not in trouble, and after a few seconds, he slips off the bed to sit next to his father, who slips an arm around him wordlessly.

Silver leans into him, enjoying the warmth of his current position.

It’s nice to be held. Really, it’s nice to have any form of positive attention that doesn’t need to be kept hidden.

“Do you want to talk about your nightmare?” Giovanni asks, his voice still quiet.

Silver curls as close as he can without actually winding up in Giovanni’s lap, and bites his lip.

He doesn’t.

But Giovanni had said something a while ago about trying to find the man who’d taken him, and Silver likes the idea of The Mask being the one in pain for a change. And if that’s going to happen he needs to tell Giovanni about what had happened.

But he still doesn’t want to talk about all of it.

“I thought I was locked up again.” And when he’d woken up it had still been dark, and he’d panicked and fallen out of bed.

Giovanni rubs his arm, and Silver glances up to see him staring out the window looking deep in thought.

“If you want to leave the door to your room open at night you can. Or we could get you a small light for in here. It might help when you wake up from a dream like that.”

Silver’s head tilts, and he ponders over the suggestion.

It’s not the worst idea.

After a few seconds, he nods. “We could try.”

He at least can’t see how it could hurt, and he can always shut the door if he ends up with different fears plaguing him. The light should be helpful though. He’d liked having one on the night he’d fallen asleep while Giovanni was reading at least.

* * *

In addition to the “nightlight”, Giovanni had offered to get Silver some books, which is the first offer of new things to genuinely excite him.

One of The Mask’s guards had been assigned the job of getting him and Green caught up with the other kids educationally, or at least on useful subjects, so Silver can read (a fact that had apparently surprised his father), but he’s slower than Green still, and the opportunity to practice (and really just for something familiar to do because he doesn’t really know how to be idle) is a welcome one.

Even if the small storybooks he’d wound up with aren’t quite what he’d been picturing. But they are easier to read than the textbooks from before, which he appreciates.

One book is on probably simplified versions of the stories behind different legendaries, and it doesn’t take long for him to try digging through it for information on Mew, because even a childish fairy-tale would offer more information than he has now, but it turns up nothing.

Theoretically, he could ask Giovanni about it, but that means admitting to eavesdropping, and even if it didn’t, Silver’s with-holding information too.

Which is a point he keeps coming back to, even as he tries to distract himself with the new books.

While there has yet to be an indication that he has to explain things, it seems wrong not to.

But he can’t explain a lot of it. The closest thing to a lead to who The Mask is that he has he’s already given, and Giovanni had seemed as confused as he is about it.

He doesn’t know where the base is. He assumes somewhere in Johto or Kanto, going off the guards’ pokemon, and The Mask’s, but he doesn’t know for sure.

With a deep breath, Silver tries to ignore the nagging thoughts, turning back to the book, and the story he’s currently reading, about a king in another region who’d built a device of sorts to revive a pokemon who’d died somehow. (He can almost hear The Mask sneering that anyone that attached to a pokemon is weak.) The story in the book feels very simplified though. He suspects that from a different source the story might be less lighthearted.

At the very least, he has a hard time believing the apparently happy ending of the book.

He has a hard time believing most of the endings to the books, really. Whether the story is about pokemon or people, there is a running theme of everything being fine in the end, and that’s not how things work.

Even this relief of being “home” comes with the price of him not knowing what happened to Green. Or what will happen to The Mask.

Though the mental image of the man falling to his death from a tower like in one of the stories is somewhat amusing.


	9. Chapter 9

Combing through news from Kanto to try and figure out what Regina’s doing is a tedious process, but it has forced Giovanni into spending a few hours out of every day sitting in the living room, which in turn results in Silver at some point ending up on the other end of the couch each day to read as Giovanni skims articles on a tablet.

Today he’s a little more confident than usual and is sitting much closer, clearly trying to be subtle as he peers over his book at the screen in Giovanni’s lap.

Which is fine. If he’s curious he can look.

It just once again drags up the question of why he knows how to read in the first place. Teaching a child how implies you need them to learn something else, and he can’t figure out what that could be.

(And, if you need a child of school age, why take a two-year-old in the first place?)

He supposes he shouldn’t be complaining though. If Silver’s had some form of teaching that means he has a little flexibility in figuring out that particular hurdle.

Thankfully.

He scrolls further through the current article, and as he passes a photo of a building, hears a soft gasp from Silver.

“Something wrong?” he asks, glancing over.

“I’ve been in that building,” Silver says, staring at the tablet still.

“You have?” Giovanni looks closer at the image; some branch office of Silph co. in Goldenrod. There might be a small lab in it, but nothing noteworthy. “Why?”

“We had to get something out of it. A kind of pokeball. He called it a… pro-type?”

“A prototype?” Who is “He”?

“Yes.”

Giovanni stays quiet for a few seconds, studying Silver. He doesn’t look especially bothered by the topic, so after a moment he asks, “Can you tell me about going there?”

Silver’s head tilts, but he nods.

“It was our first mission so we were being really careful. There’s a dumpster around the back of the building, if you get up on it you can reach a window. There was only one camera back there, so Sneasel covered it with ice, and then she cut through the glass in the window so we could get in without too much noise. Then we went up to the lab, got the pokeball out of the box it would be in, I think there was a lock on it but Sneasel broke that too, and then we left out the window. Green had Jiggly catch us.

“After that, we just had to wait in the woods to get picked up. We got candy because no one saw us, but I think it made me sick.”

Giovanni stares at Silver, mulling over what he’d said.

It seems he has his answer regarding the boy’s apparent schooling, but this opens up several more questions, not the least of which being who the hell he’s dealing with. Even Regina hadn’t been that cruel. He’d been at least twelve before she’d “let” him near Team Rocket’s operations. It hadn’t been out of concern for his safety, he’s sure, but still. Silver is five.

He does think he recognizes the friend’s name though. The girl from Pallet. He supposes it makes sense that they know each other. Something to dig into there, maybe. At least go over the copies of the police files again, he’s sure they were among what Orm had sent.

After a moment, he sets a hand on Silver’s shoulder, keeping his touch light as the boy goes rigid under his fingers.

“Thank you for telling me. Is there anything else?”

Silver shakes his head, and after a few seconds, Giovanni draws him closer. He feels him slowly relax, leaning against him.

“Is that… helpful?” Silver asks.

“Yes, I think it is.”

* * *

Explaining things, even the little that he had, had made Silver feel a little better.

At the very least, he no longer feels like he’s trying to keep up as much of a lie.

He’s not really sure what to make of Giovanni’s reaction though. Something about what Silver had said had put him on edge, though he can’t tell what. The missions weren’t even the bad part; there had at least been the possibility of rewards.

He’d stayed in the living room for a while, curled up against his father, using the contact as a reward for talking about any of what had happened, before he’d gotten restless and gone to explore the rest of the house some more.

Specifically, the office-like room that Giovanni and Blaine had been discussing things in a few weeks ago.

Silver stands in the doorway, studying the desk curiously for a few seconds, before he pads over, opening a drawer.

There’s a pile of random bits of supplies- pens, clips, staplers- and he closes it, turning to the one under it.

This one contains something more interesting.

There are several folders stacked on top of each other, and after a moment, he pulls one out and opens it.

He doesn’t know what most of the words on the first page mean, it sort of sounds like a report but he’s not sure. What does catch his attention is the red R on the upper left corner.

He’s seen that somewhere before.

He’s sure he has.

Where though?

A dossier given to one of the older teams maybe?

Or, given that it’s in his father’s desk, maybe he’d seen it before he’d been taken? It seems like a boring thing to remember if that’s the case.

Either way, he can’t do much with the papers, and things have been going well lately, he doesn’t want to be caught stealing, so he tucks it back into the drawer, and leaves the room.

* * *

“Where are we going?”

Giovanni glances down at where Silver’s sitting on Ryhorn’s back. It’s warm out today, and he’d suggested a hike in an attempt to get Silver to do something other than hole up in his latest hiding place with a book.

He hadn’t meant for them to be gone this long, and he’s not sure when Silver and Sneasel had wound up on Ryhorn’s back, but Silver still just seems happy to be outside.

“There’s a bit of a cliff up ahead,” he says after a moment. “I thought we could stop there for a bit, then head back.”

Silver nods, his gaze fixed on the trees surrounding them.

While he isn’t willing to venture out on his own (which is just as well really), Giovanni has noticed that Silver seems genuinely happy outside. Giovanni is inclined to take the fact as a further sign that being outdoors was at least a rare occurrence before. Which isn’t surprising, but it is more information somewhat confirmed.

He hasn’t been up in these mountains in years. They had made a decent training location when he’d been younger, but then other responsibilities had kept him in Kanto, and the house had been relegated to the safe house it’s currently being used as.

But he does still know the area fairly well, and sure enough, they reach the rocky ledge, and Giovanni and Ryhorn both stop.

Giovanni sinks down onto a larger rock as Silver slides off Ryhorn and slowly walks over.

He stays back from the edge with a level of caution that probably should be concerning, and after a few seconds, sits down, leaning against Giovanni’s leg.

“Do you like it out here?” he asks, studying Silver.

The boy nods, staying quiet as he picks at a bit of moss on the rock under him.

Carefully, Giovanni skims his fingers through his hair, making sure the red strands don’t snag on his fingers. 

Silver tilts his head back, looking up at him with a startled expression before he resettles, his attention back on Sneasel in front of him.

They both stay quiet for a while, Silver fiddling with whatever is currently holding his attention, and Giovanni just watching him, until he hears Silver’s quiet voice ask, “Why are you so distant with your pokemon?”

“What do you mean?” Giovanni asks, caught off guard by the simple question.

“You’re just… distant with them. I don’t know. Is that how most trainers are?”

Giovanni studies the top of Silver’s head, piecing together the question. There’s nothing wrong with him trying to figure out how the rest of the world works, and Giovanni suspects that’s all he’s doing, but still. It’s an odd thing to bring up.

“Everyone has their own methods, mine are just less affectionate than most.” He remembers how on edge Silver had been about Sneasel being out at first, and adds, “You can do what you want with Sneasel.”

Silver nods, not looking up at him, before saying, “We used to get in trouble if we were too nice to our pokemon. I just wanted to… know how it works now I guess.”

“That’s fine. You’re always allowed to ask questions.”

“We” he says. How many other children were there? Or was it just him and the girl? Surely there would be reports somewhere if more children had been stolen away by that bird. Could things have been staggered out? Or were different methods used?

Silver stays quiet, but he curls closer and doesn’t freeze up as much when Giovanni skims his fingers through his hair again.


	10. Chapter 10

Silver doesn’t feel good.

He’d woken up with a scratchy throat, and as the day has gone on, he’s found himself feeling much more tired than he should, not to mention the way he keeps swinging between being too hot (which is annoying but fine) and too cold (which is much, much worse), and the fact that every part of him aches.

But he’s not going to complain.

Things have been going fine. He doesn’t need to make it more complicated by suddenly not being able to go up a flight of stairs without getting dizzy.

He’s gotten sick before. All he has to do is hide it until it stops. He’ll be fine.

Even if it’s much harder to hide not feeling well when it’s just him, and the fact that Giovanni actually pays attention to him is also complicating things.

But he’ll be fine.

He spends most of the day curled up with a book, several blankets, and a glass of apple juice, which is the latest in the line of foods that Giovanni’s gotten him to try. It’s too sweet, but maybe the sugar will make him seem less tired.

Sneasel stays curled up next to him, which helps when he gets too hot, even if she does make the chills worse. But she means well, so he lets her stay. She also keeps him awake, because he doesn’t normally nap during the day, which means he shouldn’t now because it will make it seem like something is wrong.

The strategy works, until around noon, when Giovanni settles on the couch across the room. Now he can’t just muffle his coughing with the pillow next to him.

But he doesn’t say anything, and Silver stays silent in his chair, quietly flipping through another fairy tale book, still on the lookout for a reference to Mew.

He still hasn’t found anything about the pokemon. He’s starting to wonder if he’s wrong about it being a legendary, but the way Giovanni and Blaine had said its name had certainly made it seem as though it were; talking as if it were the only one, rather than part of a species.

He supposes it could be a nickname, but Giovanni doesn’t seem the type to use those.

At some point, his head starts hurting too much to keep reading, and he closes the book, staring out the window instead, fighting the urge to rub at his temples.

He needs to hide the problem.

There’s a few inches of snow in the yard. Nowhere near as bad as the storm had been, but it’s there. It had been in town too, which had made the last trip for groceries far from enjoyable.

At least he’s warm in here.

He feels a cough coming, and quickly picks up his glass, downing the rest of the juice in an attempt to quell the cough.

What he accomplishes is making both Giovanni and Sneasel think he’s choking, as suddenly Sneasel’s in his face, and his father’s kneeling by the chair as he coughs on the too-sweet drink.

This cold better clear up soon.

* * *

“Silver? Are you awake?”

Giovanni pushes the propped-open door the rest of the way open when he doesn’t hear a response, and pauses when he sees Silver still curled up in bed, shivering.

Expecting the aftermath of a nightmare, he walks over quietly but gets met with a quiet cough, that he suspects Silver is trying to muffle, judging by the way he curls towards his pillow.

He sets a hand on the boy’s shoulder and feels him tense up.

“Not feeling good?” he asks, rubbing Silver’s arm.

“I’m fine.” His voice is also quiet, and scratchy.

Giovanni moves his hand to Silver’s forehead, unsurprised to find it hot.

“Were you feeling sick yesterday?” he asks as he pulls his hand back.

Silver doesn’t respond, which is enough of an answer.

He’d probably caught the cold when they’d been in town for groceries, which isn’t that surprising. Secluded as Silver’s clearly been, his immune system is probably not the best.

But it is concerning that he’d managed to hide it until he hadn’t been able to get out of bed.

With a sigh, Giovanni settles on the edge of the bed, and Silver rolls over, not meeting his eyes.

Is he really expecting a punishment for getting sick?

Giovanni runs his fingers through Silver’s hair, noting how the boy turns into the touch much more than he normally would. Apparently, the fever has lowered his guard a bit.

“Do you want anything?”

"Water,” Silver mumbles after a few seconds, and Giovanni nods, assuming that if he’s actually asking for something then it must be bad.

He heads down to the kitchen, fills a glass of water, and when he comes back, he finds Sneasel holding Silver’s handkerchief folded up against his forehead.

As he walks over, he sees that it looks like she’d filled it with ice, and he scratches behind her ear as Silver pushes her away so he can sit up and take the water.

His hands are slightly shaky, but he doesn’t spill it, instead drinking about half the glass.

“Thanks,” he mumbles, laying back down.

Sneasel immediately replaces the handkerchief, and Silver winces when it touches his skin, but lets it stay.

Giovanni stays sitting on the edge of the bed, hesitant to leave.

Silver admitting to something being wrong seems like an indication of progress, yes, but Giovanni’s sure he’s still likely to downplay as much as he can.

With a sigh, he brushes Silver’s hair behind his ear, and says, “I can stay for a bit if you want.”

Silver nods, displacing Sneasel’s ice pack, much to the pokemon’s dismay, and she squawks at him as she adjusts it again.

“Alright.” Giovanni shifts, so he’s leaning against the headboard and raises an eyebrow, surprised, when Silver shifts so his side is pressed against his leg.

Quietly, Giovanni sets his hand next to Silver’s, and after a moment feels small, gloved, fingers slip between his as Silver doses off.

* * *

Spending several days laying in bed is not something Silver is used to.

It feels wrong to be doing nothing, he keeps expecting to be scolded.

But he’s not.

The closest to getting in trouble he’s come has been Giovanni escorting him back to bed the few times he’s gotten too bored to remain there and tried to go wandering

Well, bored is the wrong word. Silver knows how to be bored without complaint.

What he still doesn’t know how to do is what he’s been told to do; rest. 

There’s only so much time he can spend pretending to sleep, and his head hurts too much to read for very long. He’s not sure what else he’s supposed to be doing.

Currently, Sneasel is trying to keep him occupied with a game of catch, using the jigglypuff toy as a ball.

If Giovanni comes in at the wrong time, he’ll have to explain the small doll, but otherwise, Silver is at least entertained.

He still feels like he’s being unproductive, but he’s entertained.

Sneasel tosses the doll back to him, and Silver aims it slightly higher than before, making her have to scramble up the dresser and jump off to catch it.

She lands on the rug with the toy in her paws, and Silver watches as her ears twitch once, and she darts over, returning the doll to under his pillow right as Giovanni opens the door.

“It’s only Sneasel jumping around right?” he asks, and there’s a note of humor to his tone that stops Silver from panicking as he sits up straighter.

“Yes.”

Giovanni studies him for a moment, before walking over.

“How are you feeling?”

“The same.”

Meaning tired, too warm, and restless.

Giovanni sits on the edge of the bed, and Silver doesn’t protest when a hand gets set against his forehead. Fingers ruffle his hair just a bit before Giovanni lowers his hand.

“Fever’s definitely lower. You should be doing better by tomorrow.”

Silver nods slowly and sinks back into his pillows. He doesn’t mind when Giovanni makes no move to leave, but he studies him, confused. Silver’s doing better, he just said so. He doesn’t need to stay here. (…Not that he’d need to if he wasn’t doing better either.)

“Is something wrong?” Silver asks after a few seconds.

Giovanni raises an eyebrow but shakes his head. “No. Did you want me to go?”

Silver pauses. He feels a little guilty about how much time Giovanni’s wound up spending with him since he got sick. He knows he’s spent at least one day almost glued to the edge of the bed at his request. But he also doesn’t seem like he has anything else to be doing right now. Presumably, he’d have already left if he did.

“You don’t have to,” he mumbles, trying to stretch his arms out as Sneasel says down over his stomach.


	11. Chapter 11

Nine days after Silver had been stolen, a little girl had vanished from Pallet. Witnesses had said a bird carried her off. There had been search parties. They found nothing. The police had found nothing. She had, by all accounts, simply vanished.

Giovanni doesn’t need to read the files again to know all this and more.

He’d nearly memorized the damned things when he’d first gotten his hands on them three years ago.

So he’s not expecting anything new.

In fact, if the police really never identified the bird, then he’s known more than them from the beginning.

Which isn’t unusual, in fact, that’s how things tend to work in Kanto, but it is frustrating.

There’s a picture of the girl in a newspaper clipping, that he supposes might be of interest to Silver, but beyond that, he’s wasting his time with the papers.

But they’re all he has to go off of.

He’s not going to press Silver for more information if he doesn’t want to share. That’s creeping too close to Regina’s parenting methods.

He’d briefly toyed with going through her old contacts, to figure out who she’d gotten him from in the first place, but she’s been off the grid for close to eleven years at this point, he can’t find out about everything, and either way, it’s not like she has a shortage of acquaintances willing to do everything Silver had been put through.

So, really, he doesn’t have any information, or leads, or a way of getting them.

There is nothing for him to be doing right now, and the feeling is beyond frustrating.

Well, “nothing” is the wrong word.

He does still need to be working with Silver, who had apparently gained some form of confidence from getting sick. Maybe a week of being stuck in bed had given him time to think, Giovanni doesn’t know, but he’s much more willing to be in the same room as him without looking like he’s trying to disappear.

Which is good because it’s progress, and Giovanni had missed this desperately, and every time Silver asks a question or sits with him without looking seconds away from panicking, he wants to hug him, and murmur praises into that red hair until Silver gets it into his head that no one is going to hurt him again.

But it does make it harder to keep the files and other digging from him, which Giovanni feels he has to; he’s doing things this way specifically to avoid pressuring Silver to talk, he doesn’t want to chance doing just that anyway, with Silver suddenly feeling obligated to help just because he’d found out about all of it.

It is sort of refreshing to be doing this sort of work on his own though. It’s been a while since he’s had to do more than give an order to get information on an enemy.

Though there’s usually a name to provide his spies with.

* * *

“Silver, come in here for a minute.”

Silver freezes mid-step in the hall, looking into the living room, where Giovanni’s sitting on the couch, studying a paper on the coffee table.

Nothing in his father’s tone indicates that he’s in trouble, and after a few seconds, he walks in.

The paper is what catches his attention. It’s a clipping from a newspaper. There’s a picture of a girl about his age, over a caption reading “Five-year-old Carried off by Bird”.

His head tilts as the words sink in, and a realization hits him.

“This is Green?” he asks, picking up the picture for a closer look.

It looks like her. He thinks. The hair is the same, and her eyes. And he doesn’t have a hard time imagining her smiling like that, even if he doesn’t think it would be very genuine.

“She looks like your friend?” Giovanni asks, and when Silver nods, he adds, “Yes, that’s her. I was going through some things and found the paper. I thought you might like to see the picture.”

Silver nods again, still staring at the photo. He’s never seen her face before. He’s glad he got to.

“Thank you. Father.” His voice is slow as he speaks, and out the corner of his eye, he sees Giovanni tense at the word.

A hand settles on his shoulder, giving him a familiar, comforting squeeze.

Silver doesn’t move for a few seconds, his gaze locked on the image.

How is she right now? Where is she? Did she get away? He hopes she’s not looking for him.

His eyes are itchy, and he rubs at them, before turning towards Giovanni, who’s studying him with an expression that seems slightly worried, even though Silver’s not sure why he would be.

But he just rubs Silver’s arm and doesn’t stop him when he ends up darting out of the room, unable to come up with anything else to say.

He ends up sitting in his room, still holding the photo as he tries to memorize her face, and not to think too hard about what she’s doing right now.

She must have gotten away.

Without him slowing her down she’d definitely be able to.

Lingering on the alternative isn’t going to do him any good anyway. It’s not like he can do anything to help from here anyway.

* * *

Giovanni had never explicitly said which rooms Silver’s allowed in, and which he isn’t. At this point, Silver supposes that may have been meant as an implication that he could go anywhere, but he still knocks on the door to the bedroom instead of going in.

It’s late, he’s supposed to be in bed, but he hadn’t been able to convince himself to do this until now, and doesn’t want to wait until morning and give himself a chance to change his mind.

The only way he can help Green right now is to make sure that someone who can actually do something about it knows about The Mask.

The door opens, and Silver looks up to see Giovanni studying him with a worried expression.

“Is something wrong?” he asks.

“The man who took me calls himself The Mask.” The words slip out without thinking. “He uses ice types, there are five other kids. I don’t know anything else about him. I just…”

He stops when he realizes Giovanni’s kneeling in front of him, holding out a hand.

Silver darts forward, clinging to his father as warm arms close around him.

“He still has Green,” he chokes out, getting frustrated as his vision blurs, and his eyes start to itch as tears prick at them. “We were supposed to escape together. And I don’t know if she’ll go on her own.”

It’s not fair.

Why does he get to be free while she’s still stuck in those caves or wandering around by herself, on the run and still in danger?

Giovanni rubs his back, not saying anything as Silver takes shaky breaths, trying to calm down.

He buries his face in his shoulder once he feels tears hit his cheeks, trying to hide how much he’s letting this bother him.

For a few minutes, they both stay on the floor, Silver still clinging and shaking.

Green’s smiling face in the picture keeps drifting back to his mind.

She should be the one home right now. She actually has memories to miss. Silver could have waited.

He’s not going to say any of that to Giovanni though.

At some point, he gets lifted off the floor and ends up settled in his father’s lap on the bed.

He’s still sniffling as he rests his cheek on his chest, trying to take deep breaths.

“I’ll try and find where the base is,” Giovanni says after a few minutes. “Whoever The Mask is, he’s probably working out of Johto or Kanto if he had you two break into one of Silph’s buildings.” Silver nods mutely as he adds, “And as for your friend; if she was gone and you were still there, would you try and get away?”

“Yes.” He doesn’t know how well he’d do on his own, he’s been here for a few months now and still doesn’t have a good grasp on how the rest of the world functions, he can’t imagine how he’d have done completely on his own. But he still would have tried.

“Then do you think Green would do the same?”

Silver doesn’t know why she wouldn’t. But depending on how his disappearance had been explained, she could have been scared into staying put.

“I think so,” he says finally.’

“Then at least she’s away from him, right?”

Silver nods, curling his fingers into Giovanni’s shirt.

“Alright. Do you want to sleep in here?”

“Yes.” He doesn’t want to be alone right after dragging everything up.

Giovanni lets him go to curl up on his side, and doesn’t say anything when Silver inches closer once he lays down.


	12. Chapter 12

It’s been a week since Silver shared more of what had happened, and Giovanni is back to being stuck with no leads.

He’s grateful that Silver had told him of course, but he can’t find records of someone calling themselves any variation of “The Mask” anywhere in the files he has currently, and Koga had found nothing when he’d gone through the records back in Kanto at his request either.

(Granted, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Team Rocket had never had anything on him, Regina could be covering things up, but that doesn’t change things on his end.)

But it’s this problem that has him once again sitting on the couch, scrolling through news from Kanto in an attempt to distract himself by looking into what Regina’s doing.

Silver is sitting in an armchair across the room, quietly eating an apple as he reads his own book. He seems oddly obsessed with fairy tales, and more books of them have been the only thing he’s outright asked for.

Giovanni’s fairly certain he’d read something in some parenting book years ago about certain stories appealing to children because they “showed that the monsters can be defeated” or whatever sappy phrasing the author had chosen, so perhaps that’s where the obsession comes from.

Regardless, he’s not going to complain about Silver finding a hobby.

A sharp inhale from across the room pulls Giovanni’s attention from the news, and he looks over to see Silver staring, wide-eyed and almost panicked, at his apple, as a small, gloved hand raises to his mouth.

“Something wrong?” Giovanni asks, confused. Clearly, he’s not choking, so what’s the problem?

“My tooth came out,” Silver says slowly, still staring at the apple.

“Has it been feeling loose?” Giovanni asks, hoping his amusement doesn’t leak into his tone; Silver looks legitimately worried.

“Maybe?” Silver looks up at him, eyes still wide. “Was it supposed to be?”

Still trying not to smile, Giovanni walks over, slipping the apple out of Silver’s hand. Sure enough, there’s a small tooth embedded in the fruit, along with a small amount of blood, and when he looks up at Silver there’s a gap in his front teeth.

“Yes, you’re fine. Another one will grow in its place in a few days.”

Silver nods slowly before his brow knits and he asks, “Is that going to happen to all of them?”

“It should, yes.”

He doesn’t look particularly happy about that fact. But he nods and leans back in the chair.

“Can I have the apple back?” he asks after a few seconds, and after pulling the tooth out, Giovanni sets it back in his hand.

“Better?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Finally.

He’d found something on Mew.

Just a passing mention, no real information, but it’s enough to explain him knowing about the pokemon, and therefore enough to at least see what Giovanni will tell him about it.

Silver tries not to look too triumphant as he walks through the house in search of his father, the book that had proven useful held in his arms.

This isn’t ideal; he’d rather find everything out on his own, but at least he has a way to an actual starting point now.

Giovanni is in the kitchen, waiting on something on the stove, and he looks surprised when Silver holds up the book, open to the page.

“What’s a ‘Mew’?” he asks, trying to sound as confused as possible.

The slight lisp that comes with the new gap in his teeth probably helps.

(He’s still not sure how to feel about this new turn of events, electing instead to ignore it, even though, now that he knows to be alert to it, his other front tooth feels slightly loose.)

Surprise, then something that might be amusement dart across Giovanni’s face as he slips the book from Silver’s hands.

For a few seconds, Silver thinks that maybe he’d miscalculated how best to do this, and now the book is simply going to be gone, but Giovanni just studies the page for a moment before returning the book.

“It’s a pokemon.” When Silver doesn’t move, he adds, “Some scientists believe it may have been the first one, and that supposedly it can use any attack. Of course, they would need to prove it exists first.”

“Does it?” Though he thinks he already knows the answer.

The corner of Giovanni’s mouth twitches. “You’re awfully curious about this.”

“I just hadn’t heard of it before.” Silver doesn’t miss that he’d dodged the question.

But the theories he mentioned sound interesting, and they do offer an explanation for why the name had sounded familiar. It certainly sounds relevant to Green’s lessons on evolution.

“Thanks,” he adds as he tries to push Green back out of his mind.

* * *

So now Silver’s digging into Mew.

Giovanni supposes that answers the question of whether or not he’d over heard anything when Blaine had been here.

It’s an odd amount of initiative from a five-year-old though.

Lots of things with Silver don’t add up, really.

He’d mentioned training and missions. Alright, that gives a reason “The Mask” had needed the children in the first place.

It’s also become clear that there was more to that training than battling.

Leaving aside the way he sizes up strangers and surveys every room he’s put in like he expects to need a weapon before he leaves, there’s the fact that he is far too good at sneaking around.

Giovanni also wouldn’t be very surprised if it turned out that Silver knows more about pokemon in general than he’s let on. He’d noticed patterns to Giovanni’s own methods at least. Something one could expect from an older child who was chomping at the bit to challenge The League, certainly, but not one Silver’s age.

Never mind how long he’d managed to hide getting sick for.

It’s not really surprising at this point, he supposes, but it doesn’t bode well for keeping things from him in the future, which is still a very necessary precaution.


	13. Chapter 13

It’s boredom that finally sends them off the mountain.

To Sunnyshore, because it’s a busy enough city that they’ll be hard to find, and because, even if it’s winter, letting Silver see the ocean seems worthwhile. Giovanni doubts he’s seen it before.

And Silver does, indeed, seem to be enjoying himself, staring out at the cold waves from the window of their hotel room.

They’re staying for the weekend, because Giovanni is restless, and making progress on anything isn’t an option right now, leaving him with the option of a trip.

They’d driven out. Giovanni is fairly certain that taking Silver on a train won’t end well.

It had been a very quiet drive. Silver had asked where they were going and then stayed silent in his seat, alternating between reading and staring out the window.

At least until a kricketune had screamed somewhere just off the road and he’d demanded to know what the noise had been, eyes wide and startled.

At the moment, he is back to sitting quietly.

He seems as fascinated with the ocean as Giovanni had expected.

“What do you want to do tomorrow?” Giovanni asks, breaking the not unpleasant silence.

“Could we go down to the beach?” Silver asks after a pause.

“It will be cold.”

“I don’t want to go in the water, just be by it.”

Giovanni wouldn’t call the look on his face hopeful, but it is sort of… eager.

“If you want.”  
“Thank you.”

Request granted, Silver turns his attention back to the waves, until Giovanni walks over and sits next to him.

The boy tenses, but only a little, and leans into him after a moment, laying his back against his side.

“Glad to be out of the house?”

“I don’t mind being there,” is the quick response.

“But a change of scenery is nice, yes?”

Silver nods, letting Giovanni slip an arm around his waist.

There’s something tucked into the pocket of his sweatshirt, too soft to be Sneasel’s ball, but as soon as he notices it, Silver shifts.

“What’s that building?” he asks, pointing out the window, and Giovanni looks to see that it’s the lighthouse that has caught his attention.

“It’s a lighthouse. It helps guide ships through the rocks in the water.” Silver nods, still looking curious, and he adds, “There’s one in Olivine, in Johto, that is lit by ampharos.”

“Only one?”

“That’s what they want all the tourists to think, I’m sure. I believe there’s actually a team of them.”

Silver nods, not looking away from the window.

* * *

The beach is cold, Giovanni had been right.

But it’s not as bad as Silver had been expecting.

The cold droplets of water that occasionally get blown to his face by the wind feel sort of nice really; a reminder that he can feel the skin there now.

The sand is coarse under his feet, his shoes left over by his father, who seems content to stay back from the water.

Not that Silver’s going in it either.

He doesn’t mind the sea spray on his face, but actually wadding in is another matter.

“It’s nice here,” he says, looking back at Giovanni.

“You like the water?”

“I guess.” He’s never seen the ocean before, it’s an interesting change of scenery, with the rocks in the water, the “lighthouse”, and a clear view of the horizon in the distance.

When he reaches a dry patch of sand, he sinks down, closing his eyes for a moment and feeling the breeze against his face and hair.

It’s been a strange few months.

He thinks he’s happy though, at least right now.

* * *

There’s still sand in Silver’s hair when Giovanni tucks him into bed.

He brushes Silver’s bangs out of his face after pulling the blanket over him, noting the content look on the sleeping child’s face.

They’re going back home tomorrow.

The weekend trip had evidently been a good idea, Silver’s been a very subdued version of cheerful the whole time they’ve been here, especially at the beach.

Giovanni stays on the chair in the bedroom, studying Silver quietly.

When he’s asleep it’s almost possible to pretend that nothing happened. It’s the only time he looks calm.

The phone in his jacket vibrates, and he slips it from his pocket.

It’s Koga.

With a final glance at Silver, he stands up, answering the call as he leaves the room.

“What’s happened?” he asks as he leans against the window, looking down at the lights of the city.

“Some files were stolen from the Goldenrod base.”

“Which ones?”

“A few on the evolution experiments. Data on Celebi and the birds. It seems somewhat random to me.”

Giovanni taps his foot, mulling over the list.

The files on the birds are interesting, but Celebi? And the experiments?

“Has anyone said anything about the thieves wearing masks?” He may as well ask.

Koga’s quiet for a moment, and Giovanni supposes it is a fairly random question, but finally, he hears, “No. Cameras were damaged, and either no one saw anything or they’re all lying.”

What could possibly warrant the whole staff lying? But on the other hand, it’s almost impossible that the thieves ran into no one.

“Is that it?” he asks finally, not sure what else he can get out of this right now.

“Yes. Do you want me to keep you updated?”

“If you can.”


	14. Chapter 14

Silver keeps a firm grip on the sleeve of Giovanni’s coat as they walk through Hearthome.

He feels like someone’s following them, but he’s trying to convince himself that he’s just being paranoid. Giovanni seems unconcerned, after all.

It’s been a few days since they got back from Sunnyshore, and they need more food. And Giovanni seems to have decided that getting Silver out of the house more is a good thing, which he’s not sure he agrees with.

They’d gotten lunch at a restaurant near the Pokemon Center, and now they seem to be on a directionless walk.

Maybe it’s an attempt at getting Silver to pick out something in a store window, but he’s preoccupied with trying to decide if something’s actually wrong.

Probably not.

He hopes not.

No one seems to be staring at them when he glances over his shoulder.

He’s just being paranoid.

He stumbles when Giovanni stops without warning, and Silver looks up to see him studying something in the window of a shop.

He thinks that’s what he’s doing, at least, but he looks far too focused.

Silver peers through the window, not seeing anything interesting in the display. Just a lot of stuff that looks very old.

He makes himself not back up when his gaze lands on a decorative mask leaning against a bookshelf.

Then, again without warning, Giovanni grabs his hand and they’re walking again, not faster than before, but Giovanni seems more like he has a destination in mind.

They turn down an alleyway, and once they’re a ways down it, Giovanni lets Silver go, and he hears a pokemon be released.

When he turns around, he sees both Beedrill and Nidoqueen.

Nidoqueen’s tail curls around him as she steps in front of him, blocking his view of the man who’s just stepped into the entrance to the alley.

Silver hears footsteps behind him.

* * *

Giovanni had messed up.

Not in dealing with the tail, it will be easier to incapacitate the man here than to try and shake him, but in being followed in the first place.

He’s better than this. He knows to keep his guard up.

He’d gotten too comfortable, and overconfident, that’s all there is to it.

Beedrill hovers next to him, studying the would-be assassin, who at least has the professionalism to not start talking before lunging with a knife.

Giovanni jumps back from the slash, and Beedrill surges forward, a stinger aimed at the man’s throat. She scrapes his cheek instead when he dodges.

Giovanni doesn’t look back at Silver. Nidoqueen has her job, she’ll do it better than he can at the moment; keeping him back and hopefully somewhat shielded from the fight.

The man tries to slash at him again, but his movements are sluggish from the venom, and he stumbles, falling easily when Giovanni’s knee connects with his stomach.

He signals to Beedrill to finish the job (interrogation is both pointless and impractical at the moment), and turns back towards Silver just as he hears a scream.

Not from Silver, but from the second attacker, whose hamstring he has somehow managed to slice through with a knife he’d grabbed off the man.

This somehow isn’t the most surprising thing Silver’s done, and the boy certainly doesn’t look bothered by his actions.

Giovanni snaps his fingers, and Nidoqueen twists, her tail slamming into the man and sending him sprawling on the ground.

“Can you give me the knife, please?” he asks, studying Silver, who looks down at the bloody weapon for a moment, before flipping it and offering the handle to Giovanni.

He takes it, and wraps it in a handkerchief, before tucking it into his jacket pocket.

Risky, but it’s a weapon, and he suspects he’s going to need more of those soon if Regina has any say in the matter.

“Alright, let’s go home.”

* * *

Silver’s trembling when they get home, and his footsteps are shaky as he walks down the hall from the garage.

After a few seconds of debate, Giovanni scoops him up off the floor, feeling the way he goes rigid even as he buries his face in his shoulder.

“You’re safe,” he promises. “They won’t be coming back.”

“Did she send them?” Silver asks in a quiet, matter-of-fact voice that doesn’t match how clearly shaken he is.

Giovanni stays quiet until they’re in the living room, where he makes himself take a deep breath and say, “Most likely, yes.”

It makes sense that Regina would try.

He’d overthrown her once, he could do it again. The same goes for getting rid of Silver. If Giovanni died, anyone still loyal to him could hold Silver up as his heir, and therefore someone to rally behind.

Which he is.

The thought does not sit well for some reason.

But he doesn’t say anything more, and Silver seems content with the simple answer, though he stays in Giovanni’s lap after he sinks into a chair.

“What did you do with the knife?” Silver asks, in a tone clearly meant to sound only inquisitive.

After a few seconds of thought, Giovanni slips his hand into his jacket, pulling the knife from his pocket.

He doesn’t miss how Silver’s attention is locked on it, and he doesn’t doubt that the boy had intended to hide the weapon earlier.

“Seems like a useful thing to keep, that’s all.”

Silver nods, and slowly he looks away from the knife.

“We need to wash your gloves, okay?”

“Okay.”


	15. Chapter 15

There’s a knife missing from the kitchen, Giovanni notices as he makes breakfast.

Unsurprising, Silver’s clearly still rattled.

He’s been almost exclusively in his room since yesterday, only emerging for meals, and even then only after coaxing.

At least he considers his room a safe place to hide now. 

Giovanni had called Koga after they’d gotten home. The call had been pointless, it’s not as though Regina would announce her plans regarding an attempt on his life.

That does leave him now pondering what to do next.

Clearly, Sinnoh isn’t safe anymore, but it’s not like they can go back to Kanto either.

As for other regions…

Team Rocket has too much of a presence in Unova, they’d be found immediately.

The only place he has to stay in Kalos is in the middle of Lumiose, which isn’t an option with Silver along.

Other regions have similar problems.

He supposes Johto would be an option, if only because it’s the last place Regina would think to look, given how close it is.

Of course, “The Mask” is likely operating out of Johto, so it might not be an option for Silver.

Then again, he has no proof that anyone is searching for Silver, in fact, the boy’s surprise at his well being mattering could be taken as a sign that no one is bothering.

A door opens and closes upstairs, and after a minute, Silver appears in the doorway.

“Hungry?” Giovanni asks, noting the way Silver’s eyeing the window across the room.

“Little bit,” is Silver’s mumbled reply, and once he sits down, Giovanni sets a plate of eggs in front of him.

He eats almost mechanically, and Giovanni hides a sigh as he sits across from his with a cup of coffee.

“They’re not coming back, Silver.”

“How did they find us?” he asks in response.

Which is a good question.

There wasn’t a way around Regina knowing they’d gone to Sinnoh. Even if he’d killed the pilot, there would still have been ways to monitor everything.

They could have gone to a different region first, but he’d also had to take how well Silver was likely to handle another flight, or ship into account.

As for tracking them beyond that…

Hearthome is one of the biggest cities in the region. It’s fully possible they’d simply started looking there, and Giovanni had just picked the wrong day to go.

“I don’t know for sure. Possibly they just happened to get lucky.”

Silver doesn’t look convinced, but he turns back to his food without comment.

* * *

After breakfast, Silver returns to his room and goes over his stash of weapons again.

A knife from the kitchen.

A hammer he’d found in the garage.

A shard of glass from the vase he’d broken a while ago, Giovanni had never found the pieces.

Not much.

He should have been stashing things from the beginning. He’d gotten too comfortable.

He sinks onto his bed, and pulls the stuffed teddiursa into his lap, wrapping his arms around it.

He doesn’t feel better.

He keeps thinking about the fight. Apparently, Giovanni had known they were being followed, and he’d certainly tried to keep him out of it, which he thinks he appreciates. Or at least no one’s ever done that for him before.

There’s a knock on the door, and he quickly tucks his “weapons” under the pillow as he says, “Come in.”

Giovanni opens the door, just as Silver resettles with the teddiursa, and walks over to sit next to him.

“How are you feeling?” Giovanni asks, watching as Silver pulls the doll closer.

It’s not that it’s particularly comforting, it’s a doll, how would it offer any protection? But he still likes holding it. It’s… grounding, he supposes.

“I’m okay,” is all he says, making himself meet Giovanni’s gaze.

His father stays quiet for a few seconds before he sighs and says, “How would you feel about going to Johto for a while?”

Silver’s brow knits.

Clearly, this has to do with yesterday.

But why Johto?

And also…

“With you?” It seems like a dumb question, but he wants to be sure.

“Of course.”

Silver nods slowly.

“I’d be okay with it.” He doubts they’d stay here just because of something he said anyway. “Why are we going?”

Giovanni stays quiet again, looking like he’s deep in thought.

“It’s better to leave for now. She might send someone else. And as for why we’re going to Johto… I have friends there who can help us.”

Silver nods.

“Okay. That sounds… good.”

* * *

There are two suitcases tucked away in the attic, and Giovanni had giver Silver one to put his belongings in.

He’d put all his sweaters in it, along with a few pairs of jeans, but then he’d been faced with a problem.

He… wants to bring the dolls with.

He’d gotten used to sleeping with them, and he doesn’t want to leave them behind.

But they won’t fit in the suitcase with all his clothes, and leaving clothes behind seems like a bad idea since he’d be acting like he expects Giovanni to buy more when he doesn’t technically need more.

But he still wants to bring the dolls.

So now he’s left sitting on his bed, silently debating what to do.

He could just bring one, but he doesn’t know which, and part of the comfort of them comes from sleeping squished between them.

There are footsteps in the hall, and the door gets pushed open.

“Finishing up?” Giovanni asks, and Silver looks back at him, trying to come up with an excuse for how little he’s packed.

He doesn’t have one.

“I don’t want to leave them here,” he mumbles, staring at the dolls.

“Then pack them.”

“They won’t fit.”

He feels a hand settle on his shoulder, and looks up as Giovanni says, “Do you want to put your clothes in my bag?”

“... Yes.”

He’s gotten way too soft.


	16. Chapter 16

The plane looks a little different than the one they’d come to Sinnoh in.

It’s still just them and the pilot though, which Silver’s glad for. He doesn’t want to deal with the crowds that the rest of the airport had suggested.

Giovanni seems just as on edge as last time though, and just like before, ends up pacing the length of the cabin once they’re in the air, his hands clasped behind his back and his brow furrowed.

Silver watches quietly from his chair by the window, wondering what’s bothering him. If they’re leaving Sinnoh, then there’s no reason to assume they’ll be found again.

Right?

He kicks his feet idly, letting his gaze drift to the window. There are a few books next to him, and he’ll try to read later, but for now, he still finds the view out the window more interesting.

“Where are we going in Johto?” he asks, watching Giovanni’s reflection in the window.

His father pauses in his pacing, before saying, “A hotel I own in Goldenrod. We’ll be staying there for a while, and it’s the easiest way to keep everything quiet.”

“Quiet?”

Giovanni pauses, before saying, “No one will find us, or think to look.”

Silver jumps when a hand settles on his shoulder.

“Everything should get resolved soon. And you’ll be safe.”

“Okay.”

He settles back in the chair, and Giovanni resumes his pacing.

* * *

They take a rental car from the airport.

Silver stays quiet in the back, making a note of how Giovanni seems to be scanning the buildings they go past.

There’s something more going on then he’s been told. He’d assumed as much, but he’s not sure how to find out more.

When they reach the hotel, Giovanni doesn’t lead him in, instead taking them down the block, where a girl with short dark hair is sitting at a table outside a restaurant.

“Where’s Koga?” Giovanni says in greeting when they stop next to her.

Silver sees a knife tucked up her sleeve when she crosses her arms.

“On a… trip. He should be back in a few days, but he wanted me to meet you here.”

Giovanni’s quiet for a few seconds (Silver can tell he’s not happy), before nodding. “Alright. Silver, this is Janine.”

Silver nods, still studying her quietly. She doesn’t seem threatening, but he supposes that doesn’t mean much.

“It’s nice to meet you, Silver,” Janine says, her voice an attempt at sweetness.

Silver stays quiet, his fingers curling into the hem of Giovanni’s coat sleeve.

There’s a stack of files on the table, and Giovanni reaches for them as he sits down, and motions for Silver to sit next to him.

He climbs slowly onto the third chair and tries to get a look at the papers.

He can’t read the handwriting on the one closest and the others are upside down from where he’s sitting.

He fights back a scowl and sinks back in his chair, studying the people across the street.

They stay for about ten minutes while Giovanni skims through the files. Janine asks Silver a few questions: what food he likes, what pokemon he has; things like that.

He tries to answer nicely, he doesn’t think she’s trying to pry.

Then something across the street catches his eye.

A man walking down the sidewalk brushes past a girl with brown hair, and so quick that Silver almost misses, she grabs his wallet.

Silver’s out of his chair and darting towards her almost instantly.

* * *

The old man’s wallet is a plain, brown one that tucks into the pocket of her sweater easily.

She doesn’t bother looking to see if someone saw, confidence lets you get away with anything, so she’s better off just continuing on her way down the block.

She’ll check the wallet later. There won’t be as much cash in it as there was with casino patrons on the other end of the city, but she probably shouldn’t go back there.

The guards don’t scare her, but the man who’d shown up the day after her little exploration hadn’t looked like he’d be fun to pick a fight with.

But old people tend to have cash, she’s realized, so there should be enough for dinner tonight at least.

“Dinner” in the loosest definition of the word. She’ll still be lucky to not be going to bed hungry.

The bag slung over her shoulder with the files seems heavier than usual, the result of her not sleeping well. Even her crummy cot from before was better than rooftops and benches but she shouldn’t complain. Not sleeping in the cot means she’s away from her cell.

She turns down an alley, intending to count out her day’s earnings, but as she reaches for the wallet, she hears a familiar voice yell, “Green!”


	17. Chapter 17

Silver watches as Green tenses at the sound of her name, before she turns around looking startled.

“Silver?”

“Hi,” he says after a few seconds, just now realizing that he’s not sure what to say.

Green looks skinny, and her hair’s tangled. Her face looks like it had in the photo, but she’s not smiling.

“Why are you here? He said you died. Did you run off on your own?”

She sounds hurt, and Silver doesn’t blame her.

He’d disappeared for four months and shows up well-fed and in clean clothes. It looks strange.

“It’s kinda complicated,” he says after a moment. “I don’t know how I ended up where I did, but I’m home now. Someone got me from The Mask and brought me to my father.”

He watches as Green bites her lip and her eyes narrow. “He just handed you over?”

Silver doesn’t get the chance to do more than shrug before he hears footsteps behind him, and Green grabs his arm, pulling him behind her.

He leans to the side, looking around her as Giovanni and Janine appear in the entrance to the alley.

There’s a pokeball in Janine’s hand, and Silver’s sure Green either has Ditty on her somewhere or is about to grab a ball or weapon too.

He grabs her arm, pulling her back.

“They’re okay. He’s my father, it’s safe.”

She bites her lip again, but nods.

Janine looks up at Giovanni, who nods, and she tucks the ball back into her jacket.

“You’re Green, I take it?” Giovanni asks.

She nods, eyeing him warily as she steps back.

Her bag had shifted when Silver grabbed her, and he can see the papers inside.

One of them has the same red R as the ones in Giovanni’s desk but he leaves it.

He’ll ask her what it is later.

Giovanni sinks to his knees in front of them, and says, “Why don’t we all head to the hotel and get you both something to eat, alright?”

Silver nods, noting how Green’s grip on her bag tightens before she agrees.

* * *

Janine keeps a closer eye on Green than Giovanni thinks is necessary as they head to the hotel, and on the elevator ride to the top floor.

He’s not sure what has her on edge. He’d seen Silver slice through a man’s leg, and logic would dictate that Green is capable of the same, but Janine has no obvious reason to be so on guard.

Both Silver and Green freeze when he opens the door to the hotel suite, and he looks back at them with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you going in?” He’s not that surprised with their hesitance. He’s sure they’re both out of their element.

But after a few seconds, Silver grabs Green's arm again to pull her in.

Giovanni holds an arm out to stop Janine from following them down one hall.

“You’re leaving her with him?” she asks, clearly confused.

“They’ll be fine.” From what he’s been told he’s fairly certain of that. “I want an update on anything you know, and why she’s putting you so on edge.”

She nods, staring at the floor as she says, “She’s the one who stole the files.”

* * *

This is the most Green’s heard Silver talk.

Since they were escorted to the suite and settled in a bedroom, he’s been excitedly filling her in on the past four months.

Being pulled out of his cell.

An old man with a cane.

A lady in a fur coat who knows his father somehow.

Being in Sinnoh.

He leaves out why they came back though.

She studies him quietly when he stops talking.

He looks happy. He’s smiling, his eyes are bright, and he’s been fiddling with the stuffed teddiursa and croconaw that Giovanni had brought in a few minutes ago.

“I wanted to help you,” Silver adds, his expression darkening. “I’m glad you got away. How’d you do it?”

“Out the air vent, like we’ planned.” Then she’d scrambled down the side of the mountain, camped out in the woods, praying the guards wouldn’t find her, and eventually reached Ecruteak. “I was trying to get enough money together to get to Pallet.” If anyone’s still there for her.

Silver nods, staring at his hands in his lap. His gloves are different. They look like leather, and definitely expensive.

Just like everything else in his life now, apparently.

“Why’d you come to Johto?”

“We needed to leave Sinnoh. Father has friends here, so we came here.”

Green nods, tapping her fingers on the bedspread.

“Can we trust him then?”

“Yeah. I trust him.”


	18. Chapter 18

Giovanni stares at Janine, confused.

“She stole the files? You’re sure? When were you even on base?”

Janine shifts, looking uncomfortable. “The B-… Mada-… S-…”

“Regina. Just call her Regina,” Giovanni cuts her off in her attempts at finding a title she’s willing to use in front of him.

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath. “Regina wants me on base as much as possible. I told Dad not to mention it to anyone else, so that’s why you weren’t told. I didn’t think it was important. I think she just wanted me to learn everything sooner. But she told Dad to take me with to look into the break-in.

“I heard some grunts talking about what happened. They were debating how much to say about what happened. They kept mentioning a little girl, and she matches what I heard.”

That’s not completely surprising. He’s certainly willing to believe grunts covering for getting beaten by an eight-year-old at least, but…

“Did you tell your father about this?”

“He thought I’d heard wrong. Or misunderstood. He didn’t think a little girl could get into the base or steal the files.” She sounds annoyed. “But she matches what they said.”

Giovanni nods slowly, mentally cursing Koga for writing this off. He might not have pieced everything together, but it would have been a lead. And a better chance of getting the papers back. If she’d had them before, they’re likely gone now.

Janine sinks onto the couch when he doesn’t ask anything else, and Giovanni picks up Silver’s suitcase, carrying it to the room he and Green had disappeared into.

He can hear Silver talking through the door, though his voice cuts off as soon as he opens it.

“Here’s your bag,” is all he says before shutting the door. There’s a brief stretch of quiet before Silver starts talking again, and as tempted as he is to listen, he has other things to be doing, and Silver should be fine with Green.

“Anything else I should know?” he asks as he goes back to where Janine’s sitting.

“I don’t think so. Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.” He sits down across from her.

“Do you have a plan to take Team Rocket back from her yet?”

Giovanni stays quiet for a few seconds, debating an answer.

He doesn’t have much of a plan.

Truthfully, he’s been trying not to think about it; he doubts the drastic changes that would come with him returning would be good for Silver.

But he does need to go back. As long as Regina’s in charge they’re not safe.

“I’m working on it. I’m planning to scope things out while we’re here and go from there.”

Janine nods and leans back on the couch.

“What are you going to do with Green?”

“She’s from Pallet. Once things settle down I’ll have someone take her there to look for her parents.”

“Sabrina’s not doing anything right now, you could ask her.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Where is Koga?”

She shrugs. “Somewhere in Kanto. He didn’t pack for an international trip. I don’t know more than that.”

“Alright.”

* * *

Giovanni brought Silver and Green out of their room for dinner, which was spread over a table in the main room of the suite.

Silver doesn’t miss the way Green’s eyes dart around, taking in everything.

He can be as reassuring as he wants, but she’s not going to believe anything or anyone is safe until she’s had time to assess for herself.

Which he understands.

Silver sits next to her as they eat. Giovanni is the only one at the table not on edge as Green and Janine keep glaring at each other, and Silver’s nervous about how things are going to go now.

He’s glad Green’s safe, but he also knows Giovanni had a bigger reason for coming to Johto that just avoiding Regina.

Which means Green probably won’t be sticking around for very long.

He needs her to stay at least until he can ask about the files. How she got them, what they are, what they mean.

“I assume you want to get to Pallet, Green?” Giovanni asks, pulling Silver from his thoughts.

Green looks up from her plate and nods slowly.

“If you want, I could have someone take you there. It would probably take until next week, but…” He trails off with a raised eyebrow, and Silver looks at Green, whose eyes are lighting up.

“Yes. Thank you, that’d be great.”

Her fist is still clenched on the table, but she looks a little less uneasy.

Silver smiles when she glances at him but doesn’t do anything else. So he has a week to find a chance to ask her.

After dinner, Janine disappears down a hall with her bag, and Giovanni settles in a chair at the window, flipping through the papers.

Green seems occupied with poking around the room, so Silver pads over to Giovanni and climbs into his lap.

He feels him tense up, but then an arm slips around his waist.

“Need something?”

“Not really.” He curls closer, trying to get a look at the files.

Giovanni closes the folder before he can.

“How’s your friend?” His voice is low.

“Okay, I think.”

“And how are you?”

Silver shrugs, shifting to look out the window. They haven’t been in Goldenrod for very long, but it’s already overwhelmingly big. He’s glad he caught up with Green, he’s not sure he could have found her again.

“Tired, I guess,” he says after a moment.

“You’ve had a long day.”

Silver nods slowly.

It has been a very long day.

They’d been in Sinnoh this morning, and now they have a tentative plan to get Green home.

* * *

Green stays curled up in a chair after Silver wanders off to bed.

Janine hasn’t left her room since dinner, which leaves Green alone with Giovanni, who, despite Silver’s reassurances, she wants to keep an eye on.

He, or someone connected to him, scared The Mask enough that he’d handed Silver over with no noticeable fight.

She doesn’t want to know what someone like The Mask is scared of.

But she has to.

For Silver’s sake.

She watches as Giovanni sorts through the stack of files on the table. She’d caught Silver trying to get a look at them earlier, and they do have her sort of curious.

She curls her fingers around the strap of her bag.

Taking a deep breath, she stands up and walks over to where he’s sitting.

“Can I help you?” he asks, glancing up.

She takes another deep breath as she picks a question, and says, “How did you get The Mask to hand Silver over?”

There’s a glint of surprise in his eyes, but he leans back in his chair as he says, “I didn’t. Someone else figured out where he was and arranged everything.”

“For you?”

“No. They wanted something. Getting Silver was a way to get it from me.”

Green nods, not liking how vague he’s being.”Do you know how they got him to cooperate?”

“No. Why?”

Green shrugs, not seeing a point in explaining if he can’t or won’t give an answer.

“He’s safe though?” she asks.

“Yes.”

She nods slowly, stepping away.

“Goodnight,” Giovanni says, turning back to the files.

Green bites her lip, and turns around, walking into the room she and Silver are already sharing.

Silver’s asleep, curled around the croconaw doll.

Green stuffs her bag under the bed. Not the best hiding place, but it will have to do for now.

She crawls into bed next to Silver and wraps an arm around him.

He shifts slightly, and Green lets her head settle on a pillow.

She can’t remember the last time she slept on a bed.


	19. Chapter 19

Silver wakes up before Green does, and takes care to not wake her up as he sits up, squirming out from under her arm.

Her bag with the files isn’t on her, and after a moment, he decides to look for it.

He finds it tucked under the bed, and drags it out to settle on the bench by the window.

This is probably the only chance he’s going to get if she’s leaving next week and Giovanni clearly doesn’t want him looking at any of his.

There are several files detailing what he thinks are experiments with pokemon evolution. He doesn’t understand a lot of what’s being discussed; terms he doesn’t know and references to other documents prevent him from learning anything from them.

The other papers are about a pokemon called Celebi, and also the legendary birds.

Those he gets more out of, even if he doesn’t know why she’d want the ones on Celebi.

He hears Green move but doesn’t look over as she stretches out on the bed.

After a few minutes, she pads over and sits next to him.

“He’s trying to find a way to go back in time,” she says quietly.

“How do you know?”

“He’s trying to find a way to capture Celebi. There’s not anything else he could use it for, at least not that I could find.”

Silver nods slowly. “Do you know why?”

She shakes her head, and Silver flips to the beginning of the file.

“What does the R mean?”

“It stands for Team Rocket. They’re the ones I stole the files from. I’m not sure what their deal is, but they’ve got a bunker under a casino in the city, I found it kinda by accident. I don’t think they have anything to do with The Mask.”

“Oh.” Why had Giovanni had files with the same symbol? “Are they dangerous?”

“Don’t know. I mean, they had guards, but most places do so… Nothing I found in the lab was that bad.”

Silver nods again, before leaning into her. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Green wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“I’m glad you’re home,” she murmurs and presses a kiss against the top of his head. “Why were you asking about the files?”

“Father has some with the same symbol back in Sinnoh.”

“Oh.”

* * *

“Someone will be coming out for you tomorrow, though it will be a few days before you leave.”

Green looks up at Giovanni, startled, and nods.

“Thank you,” she says after a moment.

She’s not sure what to make of what Silver had said about him having some tie to Team Rocket. It certainly doesn’t make him less intimidating.

But then… Compared to The Mask, the organization doesn’t seem that bad. At least the parts she’s seen.

He sits down across from her, and says, “Can I ask how you got to Goldenrod?”

Green fiddles with the cuff of her glove.

“We had a plan to sneak out through an air vent. I… didn’t really want to try and go by myself, but we’d all been told Silver was dead, and… I was too scared to wait longer. I’ve just been drifting since then.” He doesn’t need to know about the wallet in her sweater.

“Where were you when you came out?”

She studies him for a moment, before saying, “Somewhere on Mount Mortar. I think. I ended up in Ecruteak at least.”

Giovanni smiles. “Thank you. Is there anything you want before you leave for Pallet? New clothes maybe?”

Green hesitates, before deciding on a plan and nodding. “Okay. That sounds good. Can I show you something?” She tilts her head just a bit, and raises her eyebrows slightly.

He nods, looking surprised, “Of course.”

Green stands up with a smile that just manages to not look as forced as it is. “Wait here.”

She walks back to her and Silver’s room, and digs through her bag, looking for a file that has the logo, but no important information.

She settles on a paper on Celebi, and walks back out to where Giovanni’s still waiting for her on the couch.

She holds the papers out. “I found this a few days ago.”

He doesn’t look very surprised to see her with it.

“Where did you find it?” he asks as he takes it.

Green shrugs, watching him flip through the papers. He hadn’t reacted to them as much as she’d been hoping.

He flips through it once, but as she’d thought, the content doesn’t seem to interest him, and he holds it back out to her after another few seconds.

“Is that all you found?” he asks as she takes it.

“Yes.”

It’s not that anything in them seems particularly dangerous, but the files on evolution are interesting, and she needs the other ones, and admitting to having a stack of them doesn’t seem likely to end in her getting to keep them.

Giovanni’s eyes narrow just a bit, but he nods.

“Be careful who sees it,” is all he says, before Green walks off with the files.

She’s going to need to try harder to find what he’s hiding.

* * *

Silver clings to Giovanni’s hand as they and Green walk through the streets of Goldenrod, avoiding the block with the casino and it’s hidden base.

Green needs clean clothes for her trip to Pallet (or at least, Giovanni doesn’t want to deal with complaints from Sabrina if he doesn’t get her new things), and Silver needs lighter ones now that they’re staying in Johto.

Both children are sticking close to each other, and Silver’s being clingy.

“Let’s start here,” Giovanni says, noting how Green jumps at his voice as he pushes the door to a shop open.

He lets Green, who seems to perk up at the sight of new clothes, wander off on her own, and takes Silver over to a rack.

“I… don’t need new clothes,” Silver starts, looking confused.

“Johto is warmer than Sinnoh, so most of what you have will be too heavy.” And Kanto’s even warmer if they ever end up going back.

Silver bites his lip and nods slowly. “Alright.”

He still gravitates towards warmer clothes, but Giovanni supposes he should just take the fact that he’s actually selecting them this time.

It doesn’t take much effort to spot Green, quietly sorting through a display of sweaters. Her bag looks slightly fuller than when they’d come in, but he doesn’t really feel like dealing with that. If Silver’s habits of pocketing what catches his eye are anything to go off of, he doubts anyone else has noticed.

He’s not sure what to make of her though. Silver seems happier with her around, but Green had also confirmed Janine’s theory earlier with her presentation of the file on Celebi.

Unless she’s lying about how she’d gotten away, she hadn’t been in the base on a “mission” (though he doubts “The Mask” would be stealing from Team Rocket right now anyway (unless they don’t know who Regina is but that complicates things more than he wants to think about)).

(And why Celebi in the first place? Taking the files on the birds makes sense, and he supposes the experiments may have simply caught her eye, but Celebi seems so random in comparison.)

And he’s sure she’d had some motive for showing the papers in the first place. He’s just not sure what. There shouldn’t be anything linking him to the base here. If there had been when he’d left, he’s sure it’s been purged by now.

Silver tugs on his sleeve, and he looks down to see him holding a blue sweatshirt, and a few t-shirts.

“Is this enough?”

“Yes, that should be good for now.”

Green leaves the store with roughly double what Giovanni had actually paid for if he had to guess, but he can’t really be bothered to care. If her parents are still in Pallet, he’ll have done them a favor if she shows up with a full wardrobe, and if they’re not…

What is he going to do if they’re not?

He can’t really get rid of her at this point, and she won’t be able to stay with Sabrina for long before Regina notices.

Which brings him back to what to do about Regina.

Which brings him back to what to do about Team Rocket.

Whatever his decision regarding that is though, he needs to proceed like nothing’s changed. He trusts the others, but Regina’s already grooming Janine to replace her father, even if she doesn’t seem to have realized yet. They’ll be getting twitchy and desperate soon, he can’t seem as if he’s about to vanish on them if he expects help.

Sabrina’s waiting for them in the hotel’s lobby, and Giovanni’s not very surprised when both children shrink back behind him. Or by the fact that Green is back to having a stranglehold on Silver’s arm.

“Janine went for a walk,” is Sabrina’s greeting.

Giovanni nods as he stops next to her chair.

“Green, Silver, this is Sabrina. She’ll be taking you to Pallet.” He looks at Green, who nods, still eyeing Sabrina. “Why don’t the two of you head up to the room?" he adds after a few seconds, and the relief on their faces is obvious.

“Is there a reason you need me to stay a few days?” Sabrina asks once they’ve both vanished into an elevator.

“Originally I just wanted a more in-depth update than Janine could give, but now I need you to watch them for a day or two.”

“Why?”

“I need to search Mount Mortar for something.”


	20. Chapter 20

There isn’t much point to searching Mount Mortar.

Or at least, Giovanni isn’t expecting to find much.

But it’s a lead, and something to do, and something to focus on other than his growing reluctance to actually take Team Rocket back.

Green hadn’t told him where she’d come out of the base, but it hadn’t taken much effort to narrow down his options.

Common sense should have sent her downhill, meaning she’d been on the side by Ecruteak. Her clothes are thin enough that he doubts she’d have survived a night out towards the top of the mountain, so he sticks to the lower half.

Still not much, but again; it’s a start.

And, eventually, he does find something.

Probably not where she’d come out, it’s too small, but it is a vent, tucked into rocks.

There’s something under the mountain.

Giovanni stands over it, debating his options.

He’s not equipped for an assault. His team could get through the rocks, but he has no clue what’s waiting for him beneath.

More knife-happy children? Guards? “The Mask” himself?

No, it’s not worth the risk.

He works his way along the mountainside, making note of the vents and openings he finds.

One seems to have been opened recently, and he supposes he’s found Green’s escape hatch.

It’s getting late, and he’s probably getting closer to Mahogany than he’d intended when he hears uneven footsteps and stops.

Nidoking’s pokeball is hidden in his hand as he turns around, to find Pryce standing, looking equally startled.

“Blaine said you’d be gone for a while,” the older gym leader says, shifting his weight to the cane in his hand.

“I’m still gone. Just back for a few weeks, nothing worth mentioning to anyone.”

“Were you looking for something?”

“Not really.” A comment of Silver’s from a few months ago is echoing in his ears as he adds, “Just a bit tired of being in cities constantly; a hike seemed like a worthwhile idea.”

“You’re a ways away from the trails.”

“So are you.”

Pryce smiles. It looks painfully forced. “Blaine said you’d had an emergency. Is everything okay now?”

“Close to. I should be going.”

“Of course.”

Giovanni steps away, and takes care to make sure he’s not being followed as he walks through the trees, back to the main paths leading to Ecruteak.

He doesn’t like the theory forming in his mind, but it makes sense.

* * *

Green doesn’t really want to go anywhere with Sabrina.

She’s scary.

Psychics are scary in general really; she knows one of the older kids is one, and he’d blown out a door a few weeks before she escaped. He’d insisted it was an accident, but the way it had crushed a guard makes her hesitant to believe him.

And Sabrina is an adult, with ties to Team Rocket, and almost certainly more control over the same powers.

So she’s scary.

Green’s also hesitant about leaving Silver behind, but he seems happy. And he’s told her at least five times that she shouldn’t put off going home because of him.

But she still clings to his hand in the train station and holds him in for a longer hug than she thinks he’d been trying to start.

“Be safe,” she murmurs into his hair, and he nods.

“You too.” He finally slips out of her grip and gives her a brief smile.

She’s still not over how strange it is to see his face.

She makes herself nod to Giovanni as she takes a small step towards Sabrina.

The psychic’s hand settles on her shoulder, and Green doesn’t miss the look she exchanges with Giovanni.

She’s pretty sure they both think her parents won’t be there.

She’s not sure she disagrees with the idea.

It’s been three years. The rational thing to do would be to assume she’s dead, and she supposes that would be easier to do in a new place.

She stays quiet in her seat on the train, trying to make herself stay calm. There are so many people in here, she doesn’t like it.

The train will take them through Violet to New Bark Town, where someone will be picking them up for the drive to Viridian.

They’ll spend the night there, and then head to Pallet the next day.

Which means, that if her parents are there, she’ll be home in less than seventy-two hours.

And if they’re not…

She takes a shaky breath and stares out the window.

She’ll figure that out tomorrow. She wants one day to pretend that things might go right.

* * *

“What do you know about a pokemon called Mew?” Silver asks idly, watching Janine try to walk along the railing of the balcony on her hands.

She falters, and her golbat twitches, ready to catch her if she slips he supposes.

“Where did you hear about that?”

“In a book.”

“I don’t know much about it.” She twists, sitting on the railing and looking down at where he’s sitting on a couch. “It’s supposed to be really powerful.”

“Is that why Regina wants it?”

Janine stiffens, which tells Silver that he’d been right about her knowing something about what’s going on.

She grips the rail with her hands and leans forward a bit.

“What do you know about Regina?”

“Not very much. Just that Father doesn’t like her, and neither did Blaine.”

Janine nods, sitting straight again. “She wants Mew because it’s worth a lot of money. Or that was why. She might have a different motive now, I’m not sure.”

Silver nods, thinking over what she’d said.

If Mew’s powerful, he supposes that explains why Giovanni and Blaine don’t want Regina to get whatever samples or information they have.

The door behind him opens, and he looks back to see his father.

“Janine, please don’t sit on the railing. Silver, can you come in for a minute? I want to ask you about something.”

Janine sighs, but slides off the rail, back to the floor, and Silver stands up with a nod.

He follows Giovanni back in and sits down next to him on a couch.

“Do you remember the old man you told me about a few months ago?” Giovanni asks, studying Silver.

“Yes.”

“I know you said you didn’t think you could describe him, but if I showed you a picture of someone do you think you could tell me if it’s him?”

“I think so.” Did he find something out?

Giovanni nods and picks up a tablet that had been resting on the coffee table.

After a few seconds, he holds it out to Silver.

Silver takes the device slowly, and his eyes widen when he sees the picture; the man from the exchange, wearing the same blue coat, leaning on the same cane and standing next to a piloswine that looks just a little too familiar.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“You’re sure?”

Silver nods, pushing the tablet back to his father. “I recognize the piloswine, and I’m sure that’s him.”

He’s not sure what to make of the expression that darts across Giovanni’s face, but it’s quickly replaced by a small smile.

“Alright. Thank you Silver.”


	21. Chapter 21

It’s been a long day by the time Green sinks onto a bench at a park, half-heartedly picking at the roll Sabrina had set in her hands a few minutes ago.

Her parents had moved out of Pallet a while ago, as they had found out this morning.

So they’d gone to both of the places where her parents used to work (Green doesn’t know how Sabrina had gotten that information, but she suddenly had it this morning), but either no one knew where they’d gone, or no one was sharing.

They’d stopped at a cafe, where Sabrina had tried to do some more digging online, for social media profiles, apparently, but they’d had no luck.

Green isn’t really surprised that they’re gone.

She’s not upset (yet) either. She’s not sure if it’s because she doesn’t care, or just because the idea of going home hadn’t fully sunk in anyway.

Sabrina sinks down next to her, looking tired.

“The police probably have them under protection,” she says after a few seconds, and Green looks over in confusion.

“Sometimes they’ll move people who they think are in danger. They get aliases and have to keep low profiles, I just don’t know why the would have in this case.”

“Maybe they thought Team Rocket had something to do with what happened to me?” Green suggests, less because she believes it, and more to see what reaction she gets.

Sabrina blinks twice, before saying, “It didn’t. But you have a point, the police might have come to that conclusion. We can still find them, but it will take longer.”

“Could you find them? You’re a psychic, right?”

“I would need something of theirs. Ideally, something they cared about. And no; you won’t work.”

Green nods, tearing off a piece of the roll and putting it in her mouth. It tastes like mush. She’s too antsy to eat more.

Sabrina looks lost in thought, so she stays quiet as she watches the people walking through the park.

Being in Pallet is strange.

Nothing looks familiar.

She’d built up an image in her head, telling herself it was memories, but the longer she’s here the more she doubts that. It all looks so different.

It also doesn’t feel safe.

She’d spent so many nights thinking of the city, turning it into a safe haven, but now that she’s here she’s still on edge. Everyone who walks past makes her jump as she studies as much about them as she can, looking for weapons and threats that she knows probably aren’t there.

Pallet was supposed to be safe, and she can barely make herself calm down long enough to finish a pastry.

Green kicks at the dirt, getting dust on her new boots. Her bag is heavy with both stolen and paid for clothes, and she’s glad for the change in wardrobe.

Even if she’s probably going to be back on the streets if they don’t find her parents soon.

“Are we going back to Viridian?” she asks after a while.

“Yes. I’ll need to call Giovanni once we get back to the hotel.”

* * *

Green doesn’t hear most of the phone call, but she knows it goes on for longer than she thinks it should take to say that her parents left.

She lays on her back on the couch of the hotel suite (it’s not as nice as the one in Goldenrod, but Sabrina clearly has a decent amount of money at her disposal too), trying to work out a plan.

There’s no reason to keep her around, so she’s fully expecting to end up back on the streets within the next few days, and she needs an idea of where to go next.

Isn’t there some goody-goody professor in Pallet? Or maybe she should head somewhere no one’s likely to recognize her.

A sharp knock on the door jerks her from her thoughts, and she sits up just as Sabrina comes back into the room.

She walks over to a closet and opens it.

“Get in here, and stay quiet.”

“Why?”

“Now.”

Green clamps her mouth shut and nods as she stands up, and quickly slips into the closet.

Sabrina shuts the door, and then Green hears the door out to the hall opening.

“Can I help you?” Sabrina’s tone is almost monotonous, and Green resists the urge to crack the door open and see who’s there.

“Just a little chat, that’s all.” A new voice; another woman, older, probably, and with an accent that almost reminds Green of Giovanni.

Sabrina’s quiet, but she must have waved them in because Green hears footsteps (three pairs, there’s someone else along), the door closing, and then the sound of people sitting on the couch and matching armchair.

“What’s this about?” Sabrina asks, and Green hears someone sigh.

“I know Giovanni is in Goldenrod. And I know you and Janine went out to the city, so why don’t you tell me what you were all discussing, and make my job of deciding what to do with all of you easier.”

“Your deal with Giovanni was that he stay out of Kanto. He’s held to that.”

“An oversight on my part, I’ll admit. I should have included anywhere we have control. But you’re ignoring my question. What were you and Janine doing?”

“I heard that Janine was heading out, I went to make sure she wasn’t doing anything she’d regret.”

Green bites her lip, shifting her weight as she resists the urge to open the door a crack.

“What is he doing here?”

“How did you find out about him being here?” Sabrina counters, which seems like a good point to Green.

There’s quiet for a moment before she hears a quiet laugh. “Don’t act like this is information you’re entitled to.” Someone stands up, and the woman adds, “Blaine, it seems Sabrina booked a double by mistake, why don’t you stay with her.”

Quiet again, and then the door opens and closes.

Except now there’s someone else here.

Sabrina opens the door to the closet, looking annoyed.

“You didn’t hear any of that.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She nods, stepping out of the way so Green can step out into the living room.

An older man with a mustache and boater hat is sitting on the couch.

Green’s thoughts drift to Silver’s mentioning of an old man with a cane, though Blaine is lacking one.

“Blaine, you’ve suddenly been overcome with the urge to get a look at the lab in Johto, and are leaving for Goldenrod tomorrow,” Sabrina says as she walks back to the armchair.

“She’s going to know something’s up if I leave now.”

“She already knows something’s up, and this one needs to get back to Giovanni.”

She’s going back to Goldenrod? She’s not going to complain, but why?

Blaine sighs, but after a few seconds, nods, and turns to Green.

“We’ll leave in the morning.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

Giovanni hadn’t been that surprised when Sabrina had called with the news that they couldn’t find Green’s parents. She’s probably right about the police jumping to conclusions and moving them, even if he’s offended by the conclusions.

What he’s more concerned about is the next call he’d gotten from her, about Regina apparently knowing he’s in Johto.

She probably found out from Pryce; he’s probably not willing to abandon his operations, which would leave him with the option of running to her for protection.

Either way, it’s going to complicate things, and chances are decent that someone will be sent after them again, which means having another child tagging along isn’t ideal, but there isn’t another option regarding Green that doesn’t risk upsetting Silver, who is hopefully still somewhat oblivious to what’s going on.

With Regina back on the alert, Giovanni is less willing to be wandering through the city. A fact that Silver isn’t complaining about, and Janine is, and that also means they’re waiting for Blaine and Green in the hotel rather than the train station.

Silver is sitting next to him on the couch, staring out the window. He seems tired and has for the past few days. Something’s bothering him that he’s yet to share.

Giovanni hopes it doesn’t have to do with the files he’s sure Green showed him, but they are the most likely source.

He knows that’s a conversation they will need to have at some point, but he wants to put it off for as long as possible.

There’s a knock on the door, and Janine springs out of her chair on the other side of the room, walking over to open it.

Giovanni looks over as Blaine walks in, and feels Silver slip away once Green’s in the room.

The two take off without saying anything, and he watches for a moment as they slip into Silver’s room.

“She’s been very quiet,” Blaine says idly.

“I’m not surprised.”

Blaine sits down across from him as Janine slips out of the room. Giovanni hears a door close, though he’s fairly certain she didn’t actually go through it.

At least her excuse for eavesdropping is boredom.

“Green overheard our talk with Regina. Sabrina didn’t really have time to stick her somewhere out of the way.”

“How much could she have worked out from it?”

“How much does she already know?”

Giovanni laughs as he leans back. “She’s the one who took the files from the lab here, so, in theory, quite a bit.”

Blaine stares blankly at him for a few seconds. “She did that?”

“Yes. You remember that Silph building that was broken into last year?” When Blaine nods, he gestures to where the pair had gone. “That was them.”

Blaine looks slightly disgusted as he says, “On someone’s orders, I’m guessing?”

A smirk inches its way across Giovanni’s face. “Pryce’s orders, as a matter of fact. He’s also likely the one who told Regina I’m here. The base is somewhere in Mount Mortar.”

Blaine leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

“You got in?”

“No. He was either coming or going. But between that and Silver saying he saw him when Regina collected him, it seems we have our man.”

Blaine nods, looking thoughtful. “Do you think she needs him for anything? I doubt he told her you’re here just to be nice, she might have offered to keep him safe. Which she probably won’t deliver on if he’s not useful.”

“If he still has Ho-oh he could be useful to her. Otherwise, I’m not sure. There’s nothing he would be able to get that she couldn’t right now.” It’s possible she’d been using him before getting control of Team Rocket, it would explain how she found out about Silver, but that wouldn’t give her a reason to protect him now. “I don’t know that she’ll do anything if he has the bird though. It would be easier to just take it once he’s out of the way.”

“If Pryce is out of the way, there’s nothing stopping her from getting any of his resources, you mean?”

“Yes.”

Which is… unfortunate. He could put a bullet (or several) into Pryce next week with little issue, but waiting until there’s no risk of Regina being strengthened by it is starting to seem necessary.

He doesn’t particularly want to have to fight either her or Ho-oh again, let alone at the same time.


	22. Chapter 22

It takes two days for Green to do anything other than play at being cheerful.

Which hurts to watch, if Silver’s being honest.

He’s not sure either of them had really been convinced she was going home, natural pessimism winning out as usual, but the idea had still been there, and he doesn’t blame her for being upset.

And after two days of her stubbornly denying being so, she drops down next to him on a couch, her hands folded in her lap as she says, “Sabrina thinks we can still find them.”

“That’s good right?” he asks.

She shrugs.

“How was Pallet?” he tries, and he could swear she flinched.

“Fine, I guess. It’s different than I remember.”

Silver nods, waiting for her to continue but she doesn’t.

“Did something happen?”

She shakes her head. “It was just a lot, I think.”

“Oh.”

After a minute she looks up from her hands to say, “I think I saw the lady who got you from The Mask. Or heard, I guess.”

That gets his attention. “How?”

“She stopped by the hotel with Blaine to talk to Sabrina. She never saw me, but I think she knew Sabrina was hiding someone.”

“Did you hear anything important?”

Green hesitates, biting her lip for a moment, before, “Just that she found out your father is here. And I think Team Rocket has something to do with all of it.”

“Okay.” He’d started to assume as much. He needs to find out more, and Janine hadn’t been very helpful. Which leaves him with Blaine and Giovanni.

“Do you know anything else about her?” Green asks.

“She’s looking for Mew. Do you know anything about it? I think you mentioned it at some point.”

Green taps her fingers against her legs, before saying, “It’s supposed to have been the first pokemon. That’s all I really remember, but I guess it would be useful. For something.”

Silver nods. Nothing new.

* * *

Jiggly stumbles back when Sneasel’s claws connect with her belly, and Silver grins as he calls for another hit. “Feint attack!”

“Double slap,” Green snaps, throwing her hand forward.

They don’t have anything else to be doing, and Green’s back to stubbornly being “fine”, so Silver had suggested a battle. The room’s big enough, and they’re both out of practice.

Jiggly and Sneasel lunge for each other again, just as the door to the bedroom opens, and both Silver and Green freeze.

“What are you two doing?” Giovanni asks, studying the two of them with a raised eyebrow.

“Training,” Silver says after a few seconds. He doesn’t see anything wrong with the answer, and therefore, no need to lie. “We weren’t breaking anything.”

“We’re both out of practice-” Green starts “-so we thought it was a good idea. And we were being really careful.”

“You’re not in trouble,” Giovanni says. “But perhaps we could do something less chaotic?”

Silver glances at Green, who looks slightly worried, before asking, “Like?”

“Well, if you want to get back on track with your training, I'm willing to give you both a lesson on theory. It would be less destructive, at least.”

“Theory?” Green asks, rocking on her feet.

“The thought behind different methods. It’s just a suggestion.”

Another glance between the two, and Silver nods. “Okay.”

Giovanni waves them over to the bench by the window and grabs a notepad with the hotel's logo and a pen from the drawer by the bed.

Silver sits between him and Green and watches as his father draws a diagram of a battlefield on the paper.

Sneasel and Jiggly both wander over when he starts talking, and Silver feels Green move to make room for her pokemon.

Silver doesn’t think they’ve ever had things broken down like this before. Things just worked or didn’t before, and this feels very different.

It makes sense though and is definitely the most pleasant lesson he can remember having.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, keeping three children, only two of whom get along, confined in one living space is less than pleasant.

Especially since Janine isn’t technically in danger, as she’s subtly pointed out multiple times.

But if someone sees her leaving the hotel repeatedly it might look suspicious, and while she could go with Blaine to the base, and certainly wants to, Giovanni is not making Regina’s goal of turning her into a replacement for Koga any easier.

But he can’t share that motivation with her, because he doubts the end result would be good.

Silver and Green are handling the lack of outings slightly better (indoor battle aside), though they’d still gone along with Janine’s suggestion of a game of cards.

He doesn’t know what they’re betting, and also doesn’t have the heart to inform Janine that Green is blatantly cheating and hadn’t offered to deal with good intentions.

He is sort of curious as to who taught her.

A knock on the door pulls him from his half-hearted supervision of their game, and he walks over to let Blaine back in.

“Anything new?”

“Sabrina had to ditch a tail earlier, but nothing happened at the lab, no.”

Giovanni nods, leaning against the wall as Blaine studies the children.

“Where does an eight-year-old learn how to cheat at poker?”

“I’ll let you know when I find out.”

The corner of Blaine’s mouth twitches before his expression drops to something much more serious.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I suppose.”

“Are you really planning on going back?”

Giovanni stiffens, his head tilting up a barely noticeable amount as he tries to hide a sudden inhale.

“What makes you think I'm not?”

“I remember when Silver was a baby you were worried about how you’d handle things when he got older. He is older now, and significantly more paranoid, I was just wondering if you were still having thoughts on the matter.”

“No one’s safe while Regina’s in charge.”

“Just because your mother isn’t running things doesn’t mean you have to be.”

“So then who? You?” Giovanni’s tone isn’t quite a sneer, but it’s close to one.

“Of course not. I was thinking more that if you don’t want to go back, then once Regina isn’t around, does Team Rocket need to be there?”

Giovanni pauses, turning over what he’d just said.

“Where’s that idea coming from?”

“You don’t want to go back, or at least you’ve yet to say you do. I’m pointing out the most obvious solution.”

“No. You’re trying to get out of something. What are you suddenly not willing to do?”

“Think about it; sell out a few bases and Regina will look weak, which will make her easy to get to. After that just let things fall-”

“No.”

Team Rocket can’t just disband. It’s not that simple. It can’t be.


	23. Chapter 23

Silver had spent several days debating his next step.

He doesn’t have all the information. There’s some key piece missing that he and Green can’t figure out.

He’d thought about trying to get an answer out of Blaine but had realized that all that was likely to lead to was him telling Giovanni that Silver’s digging around, which means that he might as well just ask Giovanni to begin with.

Which is what he’s currently trying to talk himself into doing as he sits across from him in the living room.

Blaine had taken Green and Janine out for a little bit since none of them are actually in danger at the moment (at least not from what Silver assumes is Regina), which means that if Silver wants to have a probably difficult discussion with his father, this is the time to do it.

Giovanni’s attention is currently held by another stack of files, though he seems more distractable than usual.

He’s seemed off for a few days, actually. Silver’s not sure what had caused it, but he’s pretty sure it has something to do with Blaine. Maybe they’d had an argument.

Which doesn’t bode well for Silver getting an actual answer, but he’s on a time limit.

So he takes a deep breath, and asks, “What’s Team Rocket?”

Giovanni’s reaction is immediate; he goes completely still, and Silver can see him taking a deep breath before he slowly looks up from the papers in his lap to meet Silver’s gaze.

“Why?”

“I heard you and Blaine talking about it.” He doesn’t want to hide behind Green or admit to his snooping back in Sinnoh.

Giovanni sighs, moving the papers to the coffee table before leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“How much did you hear?”

“It has something to do with Regina. And I think The Mask.” Giovanni’s lips purse as Silver says that. “There’s a base somewhere in the city, that’s where Blaine’s been going. Mew has something to do with it too.” He thinks that’s everything he needs explained.

Giovanni nods slowly, still studying Silver.

“Team Rocket is an organization that Regina is in charge of. The Mask is connected to her, not Rocket. I used to be the one in charge, but I had to sign it over to her to get you back. She wants to find Mew, maybe for money, maybe for its power, I don’t know right now.”

“What about all the experiments?”

Again, Giovanni doesn’t seem like he wants to give an answer, but he says, “Most are for finding ways of making pokemon stronger, and things like that.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Because his tone certainly implies it isn’t. Or at least that he expects Silver to think so.

“I suppose that would depend on who you asked.”

Silver’s brow knits in confusion, but he switches subjects. He supposes the ethics of it all aren’t the most important bit. “Are we in Johto to take it back?” That would make sense, but he can see Giovanni hesitating.

“Maybe,” he says finally.

“You don’t know?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“What's complicated?"

Giovanni goes quiet again, threading his fingers through each other before asking, "What do you want to do when this is all over?"

"When what's over?" Why is he changing the subject?

"When The Mask is gone, and we don't need to worry about Regina anymore. What sounds good to you?"

Silver stares blankly at him, not understanding the question. There isn't an "over". There's just various ways in which things might be less bad. This is a particularly nice way for things to go, but there isn't going to be some magic moment where everything stops. Right? The Mask isn’t going to suddenly go away.

"I don't know," he says finally.

"Did you like things back in Sinnoh?"

"Yes." Why wouldn't he have?

"What about it did you like?"

Silver’s brow knits in confusion as he tries to figure out an answer. What's he after with these questions? Is he just really desperate to change the subject and throw Silver off?

"The house was warm. And there was always food," he starts, because it's true. "And..." He doesn't really want to say this part, but it’s true and probably closer to what Giovanni’s looking for, “I liked getting attention.”

His face feels hot, and he stares at his hands in his lap.

He hears Giovanni stand up, and a hand settles on his shoulder.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that.” After another few seconds, he adds, “So if it was all up to you, things would go back to like they were in Sinnoh?”

“I guess.” It’s certainly the nicest his life’s ever been.

Giovanni gives him a small smile. “We’ll have everything figured out soon, alright?”

Silver nods, studying his father’s face. He’s not sure what to make of his expression.

* * *

So Silver does know about Team Rocket.

Giovanni doubts it’s only because of him and Blaine, it’s very likely Green had shown him the files at some point, but he no longer needs to try and work out if he knows or not.

He’s not sure how much that changes.

He still has to go back, whether he wants to or not. Blaine is wrong, plain and simple. Team Rocket ceasing to exist will not solve anything. There will be people wanting revenge for it disbanding, people trying to bring it back, copycats, and chaos as suddenly Kanto’s crime world is left with no structure.

He must realize that.

In a way, he supposes, this may make things easier. There won’t be as much to explain or justify. Silver’s world view is already so skewed, most of Team Rocket likely wouldn’t phase him.

(Does he really want to be taking advantage of that?)

He sinks back in the chair in the master bedroom of the suite. He’s been in here since Blaine and the girls got back, trying to think.

It… bothers him; how casual Silver had been with the idea of the organization. Granted, they hadn’t had the most detailed conversation, but…

But Silver was never supposed to grow up in Team Rocket. Was supposed to be kept from it for as long as possible.

But it is also far too late to shelter him, and Giovanni knows this.

He'd just... still like to.


	24. Chapter 24

“So Giovanni used to be the one in charge of Team Rocket, but now Regina is because she used you as leverage to get it?” Green summarizes, staring at where Silver’s sitting on the bed.

”Yes.”

She nods, crossing her arms as she starts to pace again.

It all makes several pieces fall into place, but there’s still a few questions.

Like where they both fit into things.

“And The Mask is just connected to Regina.”

Silver nods and Green stops again.

They still need more information.

“Is there anything else?”

“Father knows who the man at the exchange was, but he didn’t tell me his name. I think he has to be The Mask though. He had his piloswine in the photo.”

“Do you think Janine would know?” She knows the older girl knows more about what’s going on than they do. And Silver had managed to get some answers from her while Green had been in Pallet. She’s also the only approachable person staying with them.

“I don’t have the picture.”

“Ask if there are any strong ice trainers in Johto with piloswine. If you need to narrow it down, mention that he’s old, or say something about the sculptures. He’s gotta be someone kinda important if Giovanni found him that fast.”

At least she hopes so.

“I can try. It’s better than nothing.”

Which is what they currently have.

Silver studies his hands in his lap for a moment, before looking back up at her.

“What if we searched the base again?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’d have a better idea of what to look for so we might get something more helpful.”

Green taps her fingers against her arm, thinking. He has a point, but she doesn’t really want to take him there. As on edge as she is with all this as she is, she’s not blind to the fact that this is the safest Silver’s ever been (not that that’s saying much). She’s not in a hurry to put him back in danger.

“We’ll see.”

* * *

“Dad’s on his way back.”

Silver glances up, looking over at where Janine’s talking to Giovanni and Blaine. That explains her good mood, he supposes.

“’Back’ meaning?” Giovanni asks.

“He’s on his way here. I’ll be going back with him so it just looks like he was picking me up.”

“Alright. How long is he going to stay?”

“Just a few days.”

“I’ll probably leave with them, then,” Blaine adds, and something in Giovanni’s expression changes for a moment, but Silver can’t tell to what or what he’s thinking.

Maybe he’s right about them having an argument.

But Giovanni resettles as quickly as he’d tensed, and Silver doesn’t think anyone else noticed.

“That’s fine,” he says simply.

Janine nods, walking across the room, towards her room, and where Silver’s sitting.

“Janine, can I ask you something?” he asks right when she reaches him.

She jumps, but turns towards him.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Are there any strong ice trainers in Johto? Specifically with a piloswine?”

Janine’s eyebrows raise, and after a few seconds, she says, “There’s Pryce, in Mahogany.”

“Mahogany?”

“It’s a little town on the other side of Mount Mortar. Pryce is the gym leader there, he has his team trained to make ice sculptures. They’re supposed to be really pretty.”

Silver vehemently disagrees with that idea.

“Thank you,” he says, standing up before she can ask why he’d needed to know, which she looks like she’s about to; her face clouding with worry.

He heads back to his and Green’s room, where Green’s waiting, and he sits next to her by the window.

She stays quiet as he repeats what Janine had said, just bites her lip and stares across the room.

“That makes sense”, she says when he goes quiet. “Your father wanted to know how I got away, and I told him I was on Mount Mortar at first. If he’s figured it all out that’s probably how.”

“There’s no way we can get to Mahogany from here though, right?” Silver asks. They’re going to need to, to deal with him, but he doesn’t see how they’ll get there without being dragged back.

“I’ll think of something. We should start with the base though since we’re here. There might be something on him there for one thing.”

Silver nods, watching as Green pulls herself up and walks over to her bag. She sits down and starts sorting through the papers again, and after a moment Silver gets up to help.

As he walks past the door to the hallway, he hears another door close very quietly, but after a brief pause writes it off as unimportant. There are three other people in the suite after all; movement doesn’t necessarily mean eavesdropping.

* * *

Koga arrives after Silver and Green are in bed, and he looks like he’s been in more than a few fights over the past few days.

“Something go wrong?” Giovanni asks, watching as he doesn’t-quite-limp to the couch.

“I wouldn’t be very surprised if Regina hadn’t expected me to come back, we’ll put it that way.”

Giovanni nods as he sinks into the chair across from him.

If he’s right about Janine, it would make sense for her to be trying to get rid of Koga sooner rather than later. Not that he can point that out until he’s sure the girl is both in bed and staying there.

He’s not sure what she’s doing at the moment. She’d stayed in the living room long enough to see Koga and then slipped out onto the balcony.

Maybe she’s still sulking over not being allowed to go with Blaine to the base, but she’ll thank them one day.

In theory.

“Janine said you had found something out about the break-in,” Koga starts. “What was it?”

The corner of Giovanni’s mouth twitches. “I’m surprised she didn’t just tell you everything. She was right about the thief being a little girl.”

“How did you find that out?”

“We found her.”

Which leads into an explanation of Green, and what they’ve worked out about what Pryce is doing, that Koga listens to silently.

“Do we know if Regina’s used Pryce for anything before this?” he asks at the end.

“She made a point of making it sound like he’d slipped up and she figured things out from there, which isn’t impossible. She must have traced things to him beforehand though.” The only time he knows of that she’d have been able to find out anything about Silver’s whereabouts is when he and Green had gotten into the Silph lab here, but if she did end up with a description of him somehow it would have been a starting point if nothing else. That brings with it the implication that she’d been monitoring Giovanni for several years, but that feels like a given at this point if he’s being entirely honest. “I doubt she needs him for anything now that she has Team Rocket back though.”

Koga nods and looks like he’s about to say something, when Blaine stands up and walks over to the door leading to the balcony.

He opens it, and after a moment turns back to them, looking tense.

“Did Janine come back in?”

“No.”

“She’s not out here.”

Suddenly Giovanni remembers seeing some conversation between Silver and Janine that had ended in them both heading to Silver and Green’s room for a few minutes.

He’s out of the chair, walking towards the bedroom, and sure enough, when he opens the door both beds are empty, and the window is open.

“Golbat couldn’t have carried all three of them,” Koga says from somewhere behind him, sounding more confused than reassuring.

“Green has a jigglypuff, they could have floated down with it.”

Where the hell did they go?


	25. Chapter 25

Jiggly dropped Silver and Green off on the roof a building across from where Green said the base was.

They’d worked their way to the ground, across the street, and then into the alley next to the base, where Green pulls Silver to the side.

“There’s a camera.”

Silver nods, reaching for Sneasel’s ball, and within a few seconds, she has the offending device frozen.

Green darts over and Silver watches as she disables the electric lock on the door, moving quickly enough to tell him this is how she’d gotten in last time.

She opens the door, slowly at first, but once it’s clear the hallway behind it is empty, they both go in.

Green leads through the building; music and voices from the main rooms of what she says is a casino filling Silver’s ears. It’s certainly a more exciting place to break into than the Silph lab had been.

They have to duck out of sight a few times, but finally, they reach an elevator.

It needs a key card.

“They’ll know we’re here too soon if you take it apart,” Silver starts to say, but Green slips a card from her sweater pocket.

“It only works on the inside doors,” she explains when he starts to point back towards the door they’d broken through. “I tried it on that one last time.”

Silver nods, and the doors open.

They dart in, and as Green presses buttons and the doors slide shut, Silver hears several sets of footsteps running.

He gives Green a worried look as they start to descend, and she bites her lip for a moment, before saying, “It sounded like they were going away from us. Maybe something happened in a different part.”

He nods, leaning against the wall, taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.

He doesn’t want to be going underground, but they need to see if there’s information on The Mask here now that they know he’s connected to all this.

Green squeezes his hand when the elevator stops, and they walk out silently, Silver and Sneasel staying a few paces back, watching their six like they’d been taught.

Green has Ditty on her wrist, and Jiggly’s ball in her hand as she leads them through the halls.

“Those are the labs,” she whispers, gesturing to doors on their left. “But there’s an office up ahead that I think we’ll get more out of.”

“Okay.”

When they reach the office, Green pauses, her ear pressed against the door. After a few seconds, she nods and tries the knob.

Locked.

And there’s a keypad instead of a card reader.

“We need some kind of powder,” Silver says after a moment.

Green nods, her gaze drifting towards the labs, just as a familiar voice says, “I can just tell you what it is.”

Silver’s head snaps up, and Green whirls around to face Janine, who’s leaning against the wall at the other end of the hall, looking thoughtful.

“How did you know we were here?” Green snaps, stepping in front of Silver.

“Giovanni and Blaine keep talking about Pryce, but they won’t tell me why. So it was a little interesting when suddenly you needed to know about ice trainers in Johto. And I overheard you talking about how to get in.”

Silver clenches his jaw as Green taps her fingers against her leg.

“Can you get us in?” he asks when she doesn’t say anything.

“Are you gonna show me what you find?” Janine counters, and after a brief pause, Green nods.

“Great.”

“What’s going on upstairs?” Silver asks as Janine punches in a code that they probably would have needed more than fingerprints to work out. “We heard people running.”

“I’m not sure. It might be a drill. You’re lucky though; normally there would be more people down here. Right, Green?”

She holds Green’s gaze for a few seconds, and Green’s fists clench as she pushes the door open.

Janine pads over to a desk with a computer on it, and slides into the chair.

Silver watches as she plugs in a small device, and leans back.

“That should find the password in a few minutes, and then I'm guessing you wanted to look for information on Pryce?”

“Yes,” Silver says, because Green’s being quiet, and Janine nods.

While they wait on the gadget, Silver wanders through the room, taking care to not actually disturb anything in his examining. There are lots of random ornaments throughout the room, and he resists the urge to test their weight.

Finally, he hears Janine typing, and walks over, peering around her to see the screen.

“See if anything links to Celebi,” Green says, finally walking over, and Janine nods.

“There’s the stuff I already told you; about the gym and sculptures and stuff. And then…”

“What?”

Janine clicks on something, and a scan of a newspaper article pops up. “This is about an avalanche that happened near Mahogany a while ago. Pryce was caught in it, and he lost two lapras. You said he’s looking into Celebi; do you think he’s trying to undo that?”

“There’s no way The Mask cares about a pokemon that much,” Silver sneers, studying the image on the screen.

They’d been thrown in cells and freezers for being too nice, and he knows guards had hit Green for using nicknames. Whatever The Mask is motivated by; it is not a pokemon.

Janine glances down at him, but nods, and sinks back. “I don’t see anything about Celebi. And if you guys are right, Regina could have edited this anyway. We should get going if you don’t need anything else.”

“Okay.”

Silver looks over at Green as Janine shuts down the computer, she looks worried.

Janine motions for them to follow her when she’s done, and they do, closing the door silently, before padding down the hall.

They stay in a quiet line until Silver hears footsteps around a corner, and Janine drags him and Green into a room that looks like it’s used for storage.

Green pushes the door open a crack, and Silver and Janine peer around her.

To see Regina walking down the hall.

* * *

It’s remarkable how quickly three children can disappear in a city as big as Goldenrod.

Giovanni and Koga had split up, with Blaine staying behind on the off chance they go back on their own.

Koga is searching through the city, and all the places Janine would be likely to try and use as a hiding spot, and Giovanni is in the tunnels beneath the city.

Which means there’s a high chance of someone seeing him, but Regina knows he’s here already, and finding Sliver takes priority.

But, surprisingly (and perhaps worryingly), he hasn’t come across anyone.

He’s trying not to read to far into that. Just because he’d kept guards around the tunnels and the entrance to the labs doesn’t mean Regina would.

And the alternative is that they’ve been called back to base, and there are only a few reasons for that to happen, none of them good.

He passes the hall leading to the hidden entrance and pauses.

He can hear three sets of footsteps.

Small, and moving fast.

With a quiet sigh, he steps back, and sure enough sees all three children sprinting down the hall, Green holding Silver’s arm, and Janine looking panicked.

Her expression doesn’t change when she sees him, though Silver tears away from Green to cling to his leg, staring back down the hall with wide eyes.

“How was your field trip?” Giovanni asks, keeping his tone light as Green slips behind Janine.

“I’m sorry,” Janine pants out. ”I heard them talking about breaking in. I didn’t see any reason they couldn’t as long as I went with.”

“I take it you found a reason?”

She nods, studying the floor as she says, “Regina’s here.”


	26. Chapter 26

“I suppose it’s too much to hope she’s here by coincidence?” Koga says as he shuts the door to the suite, breaking the tense silence that Giovanni and Blaine had been waiting for him in.

“The four of you coming and going constantly was almost guaranteed to make her suspicious, yes,” Giovanni agrees. “But Pryce tipped her off too, she’d have been here eventually anyway.”

Which is true, and he’s not surprised. It just makes things much more complicated.

“You three should still go in the morning as you planned.”

“What are you going to do?” Blaine asks.

“Probably just what we’ve been doing until she does something.” She can’t kill him while he’s this close to Kanto without risking retaliation from anyone who finds out. If she does anything right now it will be to call for another meeting.

Koga nods, turning towards the bedrooms. “I’ll go let Janine know we’re still leaving.”

He walks off, leaving Giovanni with Blaine again.

“Have you thought about what I said?” Blaine asks, which is both surprising and expected.

The truth is that he has. More than he probably should have. Today has confirmed that there is no way to keep Silver out of things. According to Janine, he’d been prodding her about Pryce (and Regina and Mew earlier), and that’s why he’d broken into the base, and Giovanni’s sure those habits will only get worse should he go back.

Yes, if he were in charge he’d be able to ensure Silver’s sleuthing could be done in safety, but how long before he finds something more damning than the profile of a gym leader no one had had cause to dig further into until recently?

Silver’s world view may be tainted, but that does not mean that him finding out more about Team Rocket would have no consequences.

He still doesn’t think suddenly disbanding is the miracle solution Blaine keeps trying to frame it as though.

“I have,” he says finally.

“And?”

“And I think selling out a few bases is a good way to weaken her hold on things, but Team Rocket as a whole doesn’t need to disband.” Yet.

Something shifts in Blaine’s expression.

There is something going on that he isn’t willing to do, though Giovanni can’t imagine what.

He’d wanted to be cautious with Mewtwo, but everything related to that should have been destroyed months ago, and half of the evolution experiments had been his idea.

Unless this is something he’s been planning for a while, which is something Giovanni will need to deal with later. For now, what’s important is that Blaine also wants Regina gone.

“If you think that’s what’s best,” Blaine says after a moment.

* * *

Silver’s laying on his back on the bed, his head in Green’s lap as they wait for Giovanni to come back in. Green’s fingers are skimming through his hair, and Silver’s not sure if he should be nervous or not as he picks at a seam in the blanket under him.

After Giovanni found them in the tunnels, he’d brought them back to the hotel, and they’ve been in their room since.

They’re probably in trouble. Silver’s not sure what that means here though. He’s gotten away with small stuff, and until tonight hasn’t done anything that bad (that Giovanni’s found out about at least; he’s sure his occasional theft back in Sinnoh wouldn’t have been approved of either).

“What do you think about what we found out?” Green asks suddenly.

Silver wrinkles his nose, trying to think. “I don’t think Janine’s idea is right. There’s no way he did all of that for a pokemon.”

Green nods, staring across the room. “We need to get to Mahogany.”

“Father knows Regina’s here though. Even if we don’t end up leaving, I don’t think I’ll be able to get away again.”

Green scowls. After a few seconds, she says, “What if I went on my own?”

“What do you mean?”

“Giovanni doesn’t have any reason to keep me here. I could head to Mahogany and finish things on my own. If I get the jump on him, I wouldn’t even need to risk a fight. It could work, right?”

Silver nods, staring up at her, trying to read her expression. “I guess.” He doesn’t like it though. The plan was never supposed to be one of them going alone, and even with how much everything’s already changed from that, he thinks sticking together is a better idea than going alone.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door, followed by it opening, and Silver sits up as Giovanni steps into the room.

“How are you two feeling?” He doesn’t sound angry at least. Silver doesn’t really get why; he certainly should be, but he’s not going to complain.

He shrugs, and Green shrinks back into the pillows as Giovanni sits on the foot of the bed.

“Koga, Janine, and Blaine are all leaving in the morning.” When they both nod, he continues, “Janine told me that the reason you broke in was to get information on Pryce. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Green says after a moment.

“What did you find?”

“Nothing useful,” Silver replies with a shrug.

“And what would be ‘useful’?”

“Just nothing important, or that we didn’t already know.”

Giovanni nods, studying the two of them for a moment, before saying, “You don’t need to worry about him. You’re safe. I’ll find a way of dealing with him once things quiet down here.”

Silver glances at Green out the corner of his eye as he nods. She doesn’t look convinced.

* * *

“I’m going to Mahogany.”

“Right now?”

Green shakes her head, studying Silver. “Of course not. But as soon as I have a chance, I’m going. Giovanni isn’t going to stay here forever. At some point, he’s going to have to leave. Regina will want to meet, or something. I’ll slip out then, get to Mahogany, and just catch him off guard somewhere.”

Silver tilts his head. “Catch him off guard how?”

“I’ll spend a day scouting out the town and figure something out. He’s probably spending some time at the gym; I could trap him there. Or in the woods, while he’s going to the base.”

She doesn’t really want to do this.

But The Mask needs to go and they’re so close to getting rid of him. She doesn’t want to wait longer. If she can’t go home, she’s at least going to get rid of him so Silver’s safe.

“How long will it take to get to Mahogany?” Silver asks.

“It took me a day to get from Ecruteak to here. And I think Mahogany’s closer to there than Goldenrod, as long as you don’t go through Mount Mortar. So maybe two days.”

Silver studies the blankets on the bed for a few seconds, before looking up at her.

“You shouldn’t go alone, Green.”

“There isn’t another way to do it. If you come with, Giovanni’s going to follow us, and he’ll probably catch up before we get there.” But there’s no reason for him to follow her, which means the best bet is for her to go alone. “I know you don’t like it, but whenever I get a chance to go, you need to stay here.”


	27. Chapter 27

It takes two weeks, but Giovanni still isn’t very surprised when the phone finally rings. Regina had either needed time to think or has been testing his patience, he’s not sure which, but at least the next move is being made.

“Hello?”

“I don’t suppose you’ll make this easy and tell me why you’re back?” is her greeting, her tone already icy.

“Goldenrod’s part of Kanto now, is it?”

“You’re executives have all retired without telling me, have they? I know Sabrina and Blaine have been out to talk to you, and Janine brought you something.”

“While you did your best to ensure Koga met some tragic accident.”

He hears her hum. “You’re so sure it was me?”

“You’re the one grooming a replacement.”

A brief laugh, then, “So you know why I’m calling?”

“You want a meeting.”

“Of course.”

Giovanni sinks into an armchair, staring out the doors to where Silver and Green are sitting on the balcony discussing something.

“What do I get out of showing up? Unless you’ve decided retirement suits you better?”

“I believe I still owe you “The Mask’s” identity, don’t I?”

A smirk flicks across his face. “That information has lost its bargaining power. Try again.”

A quiet but sharp inhale. He’d managed to throw her off. If she’s dangling that offer, then he doubts she’ll be warning Pryce that he already knows. Not that he has plans for him until she’s gone anyway.

“What do you want then?”

“For you to move your operations out of Kanto.” He doesn’t really expect her to, and she’d still need to be dealt with at some point, but it would be an improvement.

“An interesting idea, but no; I think I’ll stay.”

“Then I don’t see what you have to offer. I never agreed to stay out of Johto, and you can’t do anything to me here anyway.”

“I’ll tell you what Pryce is after.”

That makes him pause.

Truthfully, he doesn’t care. Not really. The motive behind something does not change what happened; it won’t do him any good to know.

He’s not quick enough in pointing this out though, and Regina continues, “I think you’ll be surprised at just how pathetic he is at heart. It’s almost disappointing, really.”

“How do you know what he’s after?”

“Because I know him, and I know that it’s the exact sort of sappy nonsense he’d come up with.”

It’s less the information that has him curious at this point, than what she so desperately needs from him. Because there must be something. Information is valuable and she’d been quick to offer more.

“I pick the meeting place. You can bring one of your guards, and I am allowed my team.” Minus whoever he leaves here with Silver and Green at least.

“I suppose that’s fair.”

* * *

Silver doesn’t like the way Green’s eyes light up when Giovanni tells them he’s leaving for a meeting with Regina.

He hadn’t been able to talk her out of going after Pryce by herself, and the only alternative he can come up with isn’t much better.

“I’ll be leaving Nidoking with the two of you. You’ll be safe, just stay in here,” Giovanni’s saying, standing next to the pokemon in question.

“We will,” they chorus, and Silver hopes he doesn’t look as guilty as he feels. He’s lying to both of them right now.

But Green doesn’t say anything, and Giovanni looks convinced that they won’t be running off as he starts to turn towards the door.

Silver takes a deep breath, and pushes himself off the couch, darting over to wrap his arms around Giovanni’s waist.

His father tenses at the contact and Silver doesn’t quite flinch when his hand settles on his shoulder; too focused on slipping Nidoking’s ball from Giovanni’s pocket to the loose sleeve of his sweater.

He steps away as soon as it’s successfully hidden, forcing a smile as he says, “Good luck.”

A small smile flicks across Giovanni’s face. “Thank you. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Silver nods, feeling worse about this whole thing than he had a few minutes ago. “Bye.”

Green waits about ten minutes after Giovanni leaves, before she pulls her bag over her shoulder, and gives him a slightly-less-awkward hug goodbye.

“Just tell him I decided to take off. I don’t think anyone was planning on me staying long term anyway,” she says as she brushes his bangs out of his face.

“Okay.” Silver doesn’t try to argue with her. Mainly because she’s probably at least kind of right.

She smiles at him one last time before slipping out the door.

Her plan is to get to Mahogany, deal with Pryce, and get out of the city before anyone realizes he’s dead.

So it isn’t really a plan.

Though to be fair, Silver’s isn’t much better.

But he makes himself take a deep breath, and walk over to one of the suite’s many desks, where he pulls out a pen and paper.

He climbs into the chair and tries to figure out exactly how he’s going to explain everything.

Because his version of the plan involves Giovanni being their way out of Mahogany, no matter how much he knows Green isn’t going to like it.

He’d thought about just telling him where she’d really gone, but he doesn’t know for sure that he’d actually bother with getting her back if Silver isn’t gone too.

And he wants to see what The Mask is really like because Pryce certainly doesn’t look as intimidating as he’d tried to make them think.

After a few minutes of debate, he tugs the cap off the pen and scribbles down a note.

* * *

They’re meeting in a restaurant that’s about halfway between the hotel and the base.

Too many witnesses for either side to try something.

Though Giovanni still isn’t planning on eating anything.

Regina’s already there, sitting at a table at the back, her gaze seemingly locked on one of the room’s many paintings.

Giovanni scans the room as he walks over, looking for her guard because there must be one somewhere.

He spots him, closer to the entrance, but watching him closely.

The table hides any possible weapons, but a handgun isn’t going to be accurate enough for him to shoot near Regina, and anything else Giovanni will have a pokemon out before it becomes a problem.

He sinks into the chair across from Regina and leans back. Because poor posture has always bothered her, and because it’s a few more inches between them.

But she doesn’t have a gun to Silver’s head this time, so he at least doesn’t need to be nice.

“I wonder what you could so desperately need my help with that you’ve already offered up your only bargaining chips,” he says idly, making note of how little she’s changed over the past five months. He’d hoped the stress would have gotten to her at least a little.

“Blaine’s disappeared. I’m sure you don’t know anything about that.”

Outwardly, Giovanni doesn’t react.

But that’s very bad.

Blaine, with all his talk of selling out bases, and disbanding, has disappeared.

Yes, Giovanni intends to sacrifice a few bases and labs if it means getting rid of Regina, and he’s yet to make up his mind regarding fully disbanding, but if no one knows where Blaine is, then it’s entirely possible that he’s striking a deal with Interpol right now.

And if that’s the case, Regina is in trouble, and if the police get her alive…

Well, Giovanni can avoid them, but it would be far from ideal even without two children tagging along.

The smart thing to do would be to shoot her now and have a pokemon collapse the building to hide his presence.

Shame he never bothered to get a hold of a gun.

“You’re right. I don’t know anything about it,” is all he says in response.

Perfectly manicured nails tap on the table as she studies him.

He understands her urgency in arranging this now; she’s undoubtedly reached the same conclusions he has. She may not know the specifics of Blaine’s reasons, but there are only so many reasons someone would run from Rocket, and this wouldn’t be the first time someone had followed their morals to the police.

At least it happened while she was in charge and not him.

“If he makes a deal with Interpol it will complicate things for both of us. So tell me; if he were going to hide somewhere, where would he go?”

Giovanni doesn’t move as he weighs his options.

Blaine has a lab on Cinnabar, that is for all intents and purposes, a private property not connected to Team Rocket beyond whatever he’d elected to take there, and it’s most likely where he’d gone.

The problem, however, is that Blaine had said he’d hidden the samples from Mew, not wanting to destroy them unless absolutely necessary. And it’s almost a guarantee that they’re there.

Which means that Regina can’t get to the lab.

All she’d initially wanted Mew for was money, yes, but when backed into a corner people’s motives will change, and just because the files on Mewtwo are gone does not mean that she doesn’t know about the idea.

“I’m not sure. Cinnabar seems too obvious, and if you’ve already announced that he’s fled I can’t see anyone hiding him. The smart thing to do would be to get out of the region before contacting anyone.”

Regina’s eye twitches, and he knows he’s not pointing out anything she doesn’t already know, but he can’t risk her finding whatever is in the lab right now.

But she sighs. “I suppose that will have to do. Did you want the information on Pryce?”

“If you’re offering.”

“He’s after Celebi. Something to do with an accident a few years ago; two pokemon died, he wants to reunite them and their pup if I’m remembering right. I told you it was underwhelming.”

“Underwhelming” she says. And she isn’t wrong. Giovanni would probably agree if he were as removed from the situation as she is.

But he’s not, so he’s left with his blood boiling over the fact that all of this is simply due to one man getting too attached to the tools of his trade, and devoting this much time to something that Giovanni doubts is possible in the first place. Legendaries are fickle things that don’t cooperate easily; a small army of traumatized children does not seem likely to change that fact.

Reacting would give Regina too much gratification, so he simply nods, and pushes back from the table, standing up.

“If that’s everything, I’ll be going.”

“Really? No haggling? No demands that I leave the continent?”

“If Blaine’s had a change of heart, I’d rather you be the one to deal with it,” he says simply, before turning towards the door and walking out.

He takes a convoluted route back to the hotel, but she doesn’t seem to have sent anyone to tail him.

She probably wants all of her men near her right now.

Why did Blaine have to pick now to run off?

Something feels off when he opens the door to the hotel suite, and he’s pulled from his thoughts.

It’s too quiet.

There’s no sign of a fight, and Nidoking would have put up one if someone had broken in.

There’s no sign of the pokemon either though, and when Giovanni’s hand instinctively goes to check for the corresponding ball, he finds that it isn’t there either.

He supposes that explains Silver’s sudden burst of affection when he’d been leaving.

There’s a note pad resting on a table, and he pauses when he realizes that it had been written on.

The handwriting is messy but legible, and a knot forms in his chest as he reads.

_Green’s going to Mahogany. She’s not very patient and wants to get rid of Pryce now. I need to make sure she doesn’t get hurt or caught so I’m following her._

And, scrawled at the bottom, almost like an after-thought-

 _I’m sorry for stealing Nidoking._


	28. Chapter 28

Silver hadn’t realized when he’d taken off how different being completely on his own would be.

Green had been with on their mission for The Mask, and when they’d broken into the base, and Giovanni had been with him for the fight in Hearthome. He’s never done something like this by himself, and he’d only realized that when it was too late to change tactics.

But he’d made it to Ecruteak fine, even if he’d had to spend a night curled up in a tree.

And he’s even managed to find Green, who’s currently sorting through another stolen wallet in a quiet corner of a small park.

He’s a ways away, his hood up to hide his hair and Sneasel hidden away in her pokeball. He’s waiting until Green’s actually in Mahogany to let her know that he’d decided to tag along because he’s pretty sure that if he goes over there right now she’ll drag him back to Goldenrod.

Not that he thinks Giovanni’s still there. He’s bound to have seen the note and taken off after them by now. Silver’s counting on them getting to Pryce before he catches up.

He knows vaguely what Green’s planning, but he’s still confused on a few things. Like where she’s planning on getting a weapon from.

He takes a bite of the sandwich he’d swiped earlier, and watches as she stands up, the wallet tucked into the pocket of her coat.

Silver wonders if she’s as glad for the new coat as he is for his because it’s cold out and for once he doesn’t have to wonder if it isn’t bothering him because he’s too used to being half-frozen.

Green walks off, heading towards the center of the city.

Silver’s not sure where she’s planning on sleeping. Pokemon Centers require trainer IDs and she’s too young to even have a convincing fake one.

He doesn’t get up to follow her. The more he leaves her alone the less likely she is to notice that she’s being followed. He’ll track her down again in Mahogany. All they have to go off of is the gym, so she’ll end up near it at some point.

His gaze drifts to the two towers standing over the city. Or one-and-a-half towers, he supposes; one has clearly been badly damaged.

They look vaguely familiar, which is strange; he doesn’t think he’s been here before. At least not in a way that would have let him see them. It’s not a good familiarity either. They’re putting him on edge.

* * *

Giovanni really doesn’t want to find out what kind of murder plan an eight-year-old will concoct.

He knows both of them are capable of piecing together a coherent and functional plan, but there are too many variables in all this, and neither child has had to plot out something as complicated and delicate as taking a life.

At least he hopes not.

There is a difference between a break-in, and getting away with murder, and he doubts either of them is aware of that.

He hadn’t bothered with trying to intercept them. Partly because he hadn’t gotten the impression that they’re traveling together, and partly because it just seems easier to head them off at the gym. It’s the only logical spot to corner Pryce.

He knows Green’s made this trip once before, and Silver has Nidoking and Sneasel; they should both get to Mahogany with no problems.

So long as neither of them tries to go through Mount Mortar, but that seems… unlikely.

With that plan as set as it can be, Giovanni had given himself the job of monitoring Pryce.

A dull task made more difficult than it needs to be by his lack of equipment, but having an idea of Pryce’s routines should make it easier to head off whatever plan Green comes up with.

And piecing together his own.

At the very least, he now has confirmation that Regina hadn’t told Pryce that he knows. The man is on edge and twitchy, but not more so than he’d seemed on Mount Mortar, and surely he’d have fled by now if she’d told him.

There had clearly been some threat from Regina to get him to cooperate in the first place, and hopefully, that’s all that’s currently eating at him.

Interestingly, he hasn’t made more than one trip to the mountain and its hidden prison. Is he normally there this sparingly, or had their conversation spooked him into keeping his distance?

He’s been in Mahogany for three days when something finally happens.

A little girl with blonde hair had slipped into the gym while Pryce was out, and come back out to settle on a bench outside the building. By all appearances, she’s just a challenger waiting for him to get back, except…

Giovanni had bought that outfit back in Goldenrod for Green, and there’s something tucked up her sleeve that hadn’t been there when she’d gone into the gym.

Pryce is known for making ice sculptures, which require a variety of tools, some sharper than others, but all would make a decent weapon in a pinch.

He doesn’t know what she did to her hair, but that’s Green.

Which means that Silver should be somewhere nearby, it’s just a matter of finding him, and then grabbing Green before this gets more complicated.

His eyes drift over the rest of the street from where he’s sitting in a coffee shop (it’s too cold out to bother with monitoring from outside for long). Other than Green, nothing catches his eye, until his gaze drifts to the roof of the building next to the gym, and he sees a pink feather poking over the edge.

Despite the climate, there aren’t wild sneasel near Mahogany, especially not during the day in the middle of the town.

And where she is, Silver won’t be too far behind.

As casually as possible, he stands up, throwing the remains of his (nauseatingly sweet) coffee in the trash as he walks out the door.

Trying not to spook Green, he turns away from the gym, walking to the nearest crosswalk, and from there he goes across the street, and around the building with Sneasel.

But before he can find a way to get up, he hears a thud and looks up to see Silver jumping down onto the fire escape, and Giovanni steps back around the corner to see what he’s doing.

The boy works his way to the ground, then darts around the corner and Giovanni follows, reaching the street in time to see Green walking off with Pryce.


	29. Chapter 29

Green had waited outside the gym for close to an hour before Pryce finally showed up.

She’d spent that hour tracing the outline of the chisel tucked up her sleeve, taking deep breaths as she walked herself through her plan over and over again.

There’s a lake north of the city.

It’s deep enough to drop a body into.

She just has to get him there.

When she sees him walking up, she closes her eyes for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts for the last time, and springs up as he reaches her, gripping his arm as she presses the chisel against his side.

“Hi, ‘Master’.” The word feels like ash on her tongue but he’d been so adamant about it, and with Ditty covering her hair she wants to make sure he knows who she is. “We’re gonna go up to the lake, and you’re going to cooperate or I’m gonna find out what happens when a chisel goes through your lung.”

She can feel the tension in his arm through his coat sleeve, and his knuckles are white on the top of his cane, but he nods slowly and doesn’t protest as she leads him along the route she’d worked out last night.

“Do you even know my name?” she asks in what she hopes is a cold tone.

He doesn’t respond at first, just goes pale, but when she presses harder with the chisel, he nods. “Green.”

“And everyone else’s?”

She’d figured out the point of the masks a while ago when Silver had mentioned him not wanting to look at him once his was off. He’d wanted to forget that they were all just kids.

Well, she’s going to make him remember.

Even if she doesn’t actually know the older kid’s names.

“Silver,” he starts, before pausing, clearly thinking that’s all she’s after.

“And?”

He takes a deep breath. “Karen, Will, Carl, and Sham.”

“Thank you.”

They’re leaving the town now, sidewalks turning to dirt paths and Green does her best to ignore the sounds of birds jumping around in the trees.

Pryce stays quiet until they reach a secluded spot along the shore that she’d found yesterday.

“Green, let’s talk about this-”

“Talk about what?” she snaps, using both hands to shove him back. He doesn’t quite fall over, and her grip on her “weapon” tightens.

“You’re not going to kill me-”

“Really? Are you sure? Because it doesn’t seem very hard to me.”

He stays quiet for a few seconds, his free hand raised in what’s probably meant to be a placating gesture.

"I haven’t gone after you since you got away, have I? You want to go home, right? I’ll help you find your parents.”

“Whose fault is it that they need to be found? And I’ve already got someone who’ll help with that.”

That makes him pause, and he stares at her for a few seconds, clearly trying to think of another offer.

Green should take the opportunity to stab him and get it over with.

Her feet won’t move, and her hands are shaking.

“I’ll tell you where Silver is,” he tries, and she laughs.

“I already know. Why don’t you tell me why you handed him over to her in the first place?”

Now he looks really scared.

Green’s not sure why. What does her knowing about Silver being home change?

“She found out about everything. I don’t know how. She was going to tell…” he trails off, but Green thinks she can make a good guess.

“She was going to tell Giovanni unless you gave her Silver.”

That makes some sense, she supposes.

Green’s never seen Giovanni in a fight, but the nidoking he’d had out the day she left hadn’t looked like it would be fun to get into a scuffle with.

And he had been in charge of Team Rocket when Regina was making that threat, which probably gave it more weight.

Green hears heavy footsteps coming up behind her, and she can tell Pryce can too; somehow managing to go paler.

His free hand slips towards his pocket, and the threat of an all too familiar icy storm is enough to send her darting forward with the chisel.

* * *

Silver lets Nidoking out once he hears voices up ahead.

But by the time they both reach Green, Pryce is on the ground. Not dead, but that’s clearly going to change soon without help.

There’s a quickly growing splotch of red on his stomach. Green’s holding a bloody chisel in one hand, and her glove is almost completely red, as is the front of her coat.

She’s also very pale, her eyes wide and her lips parted just a bit as she stares at Pryce on the ground.

Silver stays a few steps back, stunned into inaction.

He hadn’t expected her to be that… fast.

He feels nauseous.

Green looks back at him, and the smile she gives is painfully forced and doesn’t last for more than a few seconds.

She takes a slow step towards him, but he steps back when she goes to brush his hair from his face, and whatever comfort she’s trying to tell him gets lost on the fog that seems to have settled over his senses.

After a moment, Nidoking finally moves, prodding Pryce onto his back. Silver’s not sure what the pokemon is looking for, but when the man takes a stuttered gasp for air, it backs off, turning its attention to the forest.

It feels like several minutes before Silver hears another set of footsteps. He takes Nidoking’s lack of reaction to them as a sign of who’s coming, and he’s not that surprised when Giovanni appears through the trees.

He’s breathing hard like he’d been running after them, and his hand settles on Silver’s shoulder once he reaches them.

Silver’s not sure when Pryce had stopped breathing, but he had.

Giovanni says something to Nidoking that Silver doesn’t register, and the pokemon shoves the body into the lake and follows with a water move that in better circumstances Silver would be able to identify, pulling Pryce under the waves.

Giovanni’s kneeling next to Silver, and whatever he’s saying, he has to repeat a few times, before Silver finally hears, “I need you to give me his ball. Then we’re going back to town.”

Silver nods slowly, slipping the capsule from his pocket, and setting it in his father’s hand.

Nidoking disappears in a flash of light, and Silver watches as Giovanni sets a hand on Green, saying something too quiet for Silver to hear. Or maybe he just doesn’t register it. It feels like he’s only absorbing half of what’s going on.

Green hands him the chisel, and it gets thrown into the lake as well.

Then Giovanni’s jacket is around Green’s shoulders, covering the blood splatters, and Silver’s not sure how he talked her into taking her gloves off, but he did, and Silver’s being carried back to the main path while Green trails behind them, her hand in Giovanni’s grasp.

It’s only when they’re entering the town, and the sun’s setting, that it finally hits Silver: The Mask is dead.


	30. Chapter 30

It’s raining by the time they reach the hotel in Mahogany.

Which, while it does certainly fit the mood of the day’s activities, has clearly put both children in a worse mood, given that they’re both cold and wet on top of everything else.

“Get cleaned up,” Giovanni says, holding the door to the hotel room’s bathroom open for Green. “Don’t let anything bloody touch the floor.”

She nods, and pads into the room, closing the door silently behind her. She hasn’t said anything since the lake, just silently clutched at the ditto that had apparently been covering her hair.

It’s not very surprising. He doubts it had been a thirst for revenge that had sent her to the lake so much as fear, and nothing is guaranteeing that either of them is going to feel “better” now.

He can hear water running as he sinks into an armchair, and finally Silver stirs against his chest.

“Still awake?” Giovanni asks idly.

“I’m sorry for running off again,” he mumbles. “And… everything else.”

“You told me where you were going. That’s about as close to the right thing as the situation allowed for.” Even if he hadn’t been planning to kill Pryce anyway, it seems unfair to expect either child to have a conventional view of right and wrong, and Giovanni probably should have seen this coming. Pryce was the biggest threat in both their eyes, naturally, they’d want him gone as soon as they’d identified him.

Silver nods slowly, and Giovanni can feel his fingers curling into the damp fabric of his shirt. “I didn’t want Green to get hurt. And I couldn’t get her to stay. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I know. Everything’s going to be fine.”

By the time the body is found (assuming it isn’t eaten) any trace of Green will have been washed away, and the investigation will go cold like every other murder he’s been involved in.

In theory.

He’s never had a gym leader killed, and given her low opinion of the League, he doubts Regina ever thought it necessary either. So for all he knows Pryce’s death will attract more attention and effort.

But there still isn’t anything linking any of them to it.

As gently as he can, Giovanni runs his fingers through Silver’s hair. It’s all a tangled mess, and he doesn’t want to know where Silver had spent the past few nights.

“When was the last time you ate?” he asks after a few minutes.

“This morning. I don’t know about Green though.”

“Alright. We’ll get something once you’re both cleaned up.”

* * *

Green had scrubbed as much of the blood out of her glove as possible, but it’s still tinted pink.

So she’d filled the sink with soapy water, and left it to soak while she did the same in the tub.

Her bloody coat is sitting on top of Giovanni’s jacket on the floor and she’s staring at it over the rim of the tub.

She’s more concerned with the glove, but she still feels a little bad for ruining the coat.

Sort of a dumb thing to be concerned about.

She’s trying to focus on the little things.

Whether or not the glove is salvageable.

Whether or not Silver’s going to talk to her again.

The fact that he’s safe from Pryce now.

At least it seems like Giovanni won’t be getting rid of her just yet.

She’s not sure she believes what she’d told Pryce about having help finding her parents, but she supposes Giovanni and Sabrina are less likely to lie to her than he is.

Was.

She takes a shaky breath as she sinks further into the water.

She made the only good decision she could have.

Everyone else wanted to wait things out, but The Mask wasn’t going to wait on anything. Getting rid of him now was the best decision for everyone.

She stays in the tub, trying not to think about anything more complicated than the glove, the coat, and patching things up with Silver because she knows she scared him, but at some point, a knock on the door pulls her from her attempts at not thinking.

It’s Giovanni telling her to get out and eat.

She’s pretty sure her response isn’t audible, but he doesn’t say anything else, and his shadow disappears from under the door.

She dries off slowly. She’s not hungry, so she’s not in a hurry.

Only her coat has blood on it so she pulls her other clothes on.

She fishes the glove out of the sink and wrings it out.

She sets it on a washcloth to dry, and pulls the other one on, then finally opens the door as Ditty jumps onto her shoulder from the counter.

They’ve apparently lost the privilege of a separate room; the bathroom opens to a room with two beds and two chairs. There’s a nidoqueen sprawled out in front of the window.

Silver’s sitting on the bed furthest from her, wrapped in a blanket as he eats something with noodles in it. His gaze is locked on the TV, which is currently showing some cartoon she doesn’t know the name of.

She’s not sure if it’s actually holding his interest, or if he’s just…

She’s not sure what he might be feeling towards her right now.

Nothing good.

Quietly she pads over to where there’s a plate of food resting on the empty bed, and she sets the plate in her lap once she sits down.

Silver doesn’t react to her, but Giovanni glances over with a raised eyebrow.

Green shakes her head.

She doesn’t want to talk, and she really doesn’t want sympathy right now.

* * *

Silver vaguely registers when Green comes out of the bathroom, but he does his best to not look over at her.

He knows they had to get rid of Pryce at some point, and he had tried to talk her out of this so it’s not like he hadn’t done anything about it, but the image of her covered in blood is still very fresh in his mind.

They’d sort of joked about it before; killing The Mask. Never made any real plans for it though, it had always been too far off.

Now he is dead, and Silver’s not sure how to feel about it.

He’s feeling a little better. Or at least he can taste the food in his mouth now.

The show on TV had seemed patronizingly childish when Giovanni had first put it on, but the longer he sits here staring at it out of boredom the more it seems vaguely interesting.

Even if the character he thinks is the villain really needs a better plan.

And a less tacky outfit.

He shifts, leaning against the headboard as he takes the last few bites of his dinner.

He doesn’t know what it is, and he’s too distracted to ask, but it tastes good. Better than anything he’s had over the past few days at least, he hadn’t realized how used to full meals of decent food he’d gotten.

The irritatingly-optimistic hero of the show wins, and the end credits start as Silver finishes his food, and out the corner of his eye he can see Green picking quietly at hers.

Slowly, he turns towards Giovanni, who’s watching him and Green quietly.

“We’ll head back to Goldenrod tomorrow,” he says before Silver can ask him anything. “Try and get some sleep when you’re done eating.”

That last part seems mainly aimed at Green, whose plate looks untouched.

She doesn’t seem to notice, and after a moment, Giovanni stands up, heading towards the bathroom.

Silver hears the shower turn on and tries not to get nervous about being left alone with Green.

After all, she’s not going to do anything.

He’s just still on edge.

“You should eat,” he says after a moment, and she jumps.

“I’m not hungry,” is all she says, and her voice sounds tight.

Silver doesn’t have the energy for an argument. She’s bound to be hungry enough to have to eat in the morning regardless of how she’s feeling, so he just nods and lays down with his back to her.

“Goodnight.”


	31. Chapter 31

The drive to Goldenrod is slightly less suffocating than the night in the hotel.

Green isn’t talking. At all. Which isn’t surprising, but it’s clearly bothering Silver, who had spent the whole drive frantically glancing over at her.

Giovanni isn’t sure what to do about it.

Green just needs time. He hopes. The two of them will be able to work things out eventually. Patience is just a lot to ask from a five-year-old.

“Before you both go hide, we need to talk,” Giovanni says as he locks the door to the hotel suite.

Green’s shoulders are ridged, and Silver foes pale, but they both move to the couch when Giovanni waves them over to it before he sinks into an armchair across from them.

“I know you’ve both had a long week, and yesterday was a shock, but that’s the second time you’ve run off in a month. Which tells me that I can’t trust you on your own. So here’s how things are going to work; I get your pokeballs, the pokemon themselves can be out, but I get the capsules. Nidoqueen will be staying in your room at night, and during the day you’re either going to be where I can see you, or the door to your room is open. Does that make sense?” Hopefully, he’s struck a balance between discipline and not dragging up old traumas. He doubts outright restricting them or taking pokemon will accomplish anything beyond undoing progress.

Silver nods, already reaching for Sneasel’s pokeball, but Green just stares blankly at him.

“What about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“It was my idea to go to Mahogany, and I’m the one who-” her voice gives out and her gaze drops to her hands.

Giovanni takes a deep breath. “I’m not going to hurt either of you, so if that’s what you’re worried about you can stop. Pryce isn’t that big of a deal, he wasn’t going to make it out of this alive anyway. You both ran off both times, so you’re both in trouble. You can earn that trust back by not taking off again.”

Green looks unconvinced, but she nods slowly, letting both the ditto and her jigglypuff out before setting the balls in his hand and slowly walking to a bench by a window.

Silver watches her go as he lets Sneasel out, and he stays quiet as he holds her ball out too.

Giovanni takes it, and after he tucks all three into his pocket, squeezes Silver’s shoulder.

“Everything’s okay. You’re both going to be fine.”

Silver nods, not meeting his eyes, even as he steps closer and leans into him.

Giovanni slips an arm around him, letting him cling silently.

He’s sure there’s more he should be doing right now, he’s just not sure what.

* * *

All things considered, Silver supposes they got off easy.

Especially Green.

Not that he’s complaining. Sneasel taking advantage of him not being able to put her away by climbing on him constantly is a far cry better than anything he’d been trying to convince himself not to expect.

Of course, he knows nothing was actually going to happen to them.

Or at least he’d tried to tell himself he did.

Green had clearly been expecting worse though, and Silver’s not sure she’s fully convinced that them and their teams needing to be in Giovanni’s line of sight for the foreseeable future is really all that’s changing.

She’s still huddled up on the bench by the window, and Silver’s been watching her from the couch as he debates if he should try getting her to talk to him.

She’s been quiet since Pryce died, and while Silver’s calmed down enough that he can look at her without picturing bloodstains, he’s pretty sure she’s still not going to tell him how she’s feeling.

He’s still worried about her though. He’s not sure she’d intended on coming back if he and Giovanni hadn’t shown up, and it’s probably not a good thing that she’s barely eaten since then.

Not that he’s been doing a lot better. He hadn’t really slept last night, and breakfast had been hard to get down.

But he’d eaten it. He’s pretty sure Green hadn’t.

It’s probably better if he leaves her alone though. He doesn’t want to make her more upset, and he’s not sure there’s anything he can do to help.

(It’s also still bothering him just how quickly she’d managed to do it. That she’d been able to in the first place. He’d hurt the man in Hearthome, but that had been a fight, not something he’d plotted out for more than a few seconds between seeing the knife on his belt and grabbing it.)

Sneasel jumps up onto the arm of the couch and nuzzles his cheek, clearly after attention. He pulls her into his lap and forces his attention off Green.

He’s tired.

He’ll figure out what to do with Green later.

* * *

Silver falls asleep on the couch, and Green watches as Giovanni carries him to their room.

She knows he hadn’t really slept in Mahogany, and it seems like that’s caught up with him. She’s sort of considering having Jiggly put her to sleep in a little bit too, but for now, she’s content to sit by the window, keeping to herself.

The blood had washed out of the glove, but she hasn’t put it back on yet. She’d like to have a practical reason, like not wanting to risk something going wrong and some minuscule amount of blood left on it landing them all in trouble, but really she’s just bothered by the thought of wearing something that had had that much blood on it at any point. Which she’s going to need to get over. Just because Silver got a pair of nice leather gloves at some point doesn’t mean Giovanni will buy her some. She’d already trashed the coat after all; she wouldn’t trust her with more new clothes if she were him.

She glances away from the window when she hears Giovanni come back out of their room.

He seems tired too. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense. He hadn’t seemed particularly bothered by what she’d done, and if she’s right about what he’d said earlier, she thinks he’d been planning on killing Pryce anyway.

She hopes that’s what’s bothering him though. She doesn’t want anything else to happen.

“I’ll go to bed in a little bit,” she says before he can tell her that it’s “bedtime”.

“That’s fine. How are you feeling?”

“Why?”

He pulls a chair from a table and sits down a few feet away from her. “Well, as long as you’re here you’re my responsibility. And I’m guessing neither of you is feeling as good as you’d like me to think.”

Green studies him for a moment, trying to think.

She doesn’t want to talk. She’s also not his problem, and he’s probably fishing for something, though she can’t figure out what.

“I’m fine. It’s like you said; he was gonna die anyway.” After a few seconds, she adds, “You’re really letting me still stay?”

“There’s no reason not to,” he says simply. “And I can’t very well turn an eight-year-old out on the streets, can I?”

Her shoulder twitches in a feeble shrug. She doesn’t see why he can’t.

But he seems to take her lack of actual protest as agreement, and after a few more seconds, he stands back up.

“Try to go to bed before ten.”

“Okay.”


	32. Chapter 32

Giovanni wakes up vaguely aware that there’s someone else in the bed, and when his eyes open he sees Silver huddled up as close to the edge of the bed as he can get without falling, and far too tense to actually be asleep as he clings to the stuffed croconaw.

It’s unnerving but not surprising that he got in here without waking him up, and Giovanni quietly reaches over to set a hand on his shoulder.

Silver twitches, but rolls over to face him, the doll still held to his chest.

“Everything okay?” Giovanni asks quietly.

Silver nods. “I just wanted to be in here. I can go.”

“No, you’re fine.” Giovanni shifts, holding out an arm. “You can come here.” Hopefully, this new-found clingy-ness isn’t the result of an actual fear of Green. Not that he’s going to complain about the results.

Silver stares blankly for a moment, before nodding and releasing the croconaw to crawl over. He settles next to him, still tense, and Giovanni slips an arm around him to pull him closer, and buries his face in his hair.

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Giovanni murmurs as Silver’s fingers curl into his shirt.

“Just can’t sleep,” is all Silver says, tucking his face into Giovanni’s shoulder.

Giovanni doubts that but it’s far too late for a debate right now, so he just rubs Silver’s back and says, “Alright. You can stay as long as you want.”

Silver nods and makes no move to get back up.

Giovanni lays still, feeling the boy’s breathing gradually even out as he drifts off to sleep, and the tension leaves his shoulders as his grip on his shirt seems to tighten.

His current avoidance of Green should probably be concerning. He’d been almost glued to her when she’d first shown up; that he can’t sleep in the same room as her seems like a warning sign.

Silver shifts in his sleep, letting go of Giovanni to roll onto his back, and he lifts his arm long enough for him to resettle.

He hears a slow sigh and lets a smile pull at the corners of his mouth.

He hopes the two work things out, but for now, he’s willing to take being sought out for comfort.

* * *

Green isn’t very surprised when Silver isn’t in the bed when she wakes up.

She doesn’t blame him.

She’d be tense around anyone who’d stabbed someone in front of her.

She stays still under the blanket, staring at the window and its drawn curtains quietly.

Silver had left the teddiursa doll on the bed, and she reaches for it, pulling it over.

It looks old, but not worn out. Which makes sense. It’s not like it’s seen much use.

She holds it against her chest and tries not to wonder about her old dolls, and whether or not they’d been thrown out by parents who might or might not still want her back (and probably won’t, given what she’d just done).

There’s no point in worrying about all of that.

She doubts Giovanni will let her stay indefinitely, but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get rid of her, so she has some time to piece together a plan.

Which means that there isn’t anything wrong with staying in bed and not doing anything this morning.

Which is all she really feels like doing.

Giovanni’s nidoqueen is resting by the door. Green wonders how Silver had gotten around her, or if she’d just watched him go across the living room.

Jiggly’s sitting on the bench by the window, watching the light peaking around the curtains. Green had never really thought about it, but she supposes that’s a somewhat new sensation for the pink puffball too.

At least one of them is enjoying things.

A door opens and closes somewhere else in the suite, and Green resists the urge to sit up.

It’s probably just Giovanni. Grown-ups get up early, don’t they?

And if it’s not him, then it’s Silver coming to get clothes out of his suitcase, in which case it’s probably better if Green pretends to be asleep.

Her second theory proves correct when she hears quiet footsteps behind her, and she snaps her eyes shut.

Silver digs through his bag for a tense few seconds while Green contemplates if she should have shoved the teddiursa away before he came in.

His rummaging stops and the door to their bathroom opens and closes.

Green lets out a shaky breath as she opens her eyes again, and adjusts her grip on the doll so it just looks like she’d rolled over onto it.

She’s going to stay here as long as she can.

* * *

It’s almost lunchtime before Green finally leaves the room.

Silver’s sitting on the couch with Giovanni, they’re both reading.

Neither of them looks up when she comes into the room.

Which is good.

She thinks.

It at least means that Silver’s calm right now.

A few more books are sitting on the coffee table, and a brief glance makes it clear they’re Silver’s, though the titles confuse her.

They’re all fairy tales. Which don’t seem like the sort of thing he’d ever read.

But they’re all there is for her to do, so she grabs one and sits in the chair by the window, more than willing to remain in the somehow not unpleasant silence in the room.

It’s nice to just sit and read for fun. She hasn’t gotten to do this… ever, she supposes.

She stays there for a while, quietly working her way through the book until the sound of a phone ringing jerks her from her thoughts.

She looks over to see Giovanni answering the call as he walks out of the room, and after a few seconds, Silver gets up and walks over to her.

Green turns her attention back to the book as quickly as possible, but he still stops next to her.

“That story has birds in it,” he says, his hands tucked into the pocket of his sweatshirt.

She looks up, confused. “No, it doesn’t.”

“They’re at the end,” he says cryptically. He pulls what looks like a pink ball from his pocket. “I saw you holding my teddiursa earlier. I… don’t want to give him up, but you can have this.”

Green stares in confusion, but holds her hand out, letting him set a small jigglypuff doll in her palm.

“Thanks,” she says after a moment, and he nods before turning around and walking back to the couch.

Green studies the doll, still confused. When had he gotten it?

After a few seconds, she tucks it into her sweater and gets up to find a book with fewer birds.

* * *

An unknown number from Fuchsia calling was already concerning.

Janine’s panicked voice on the other end of the line is even more so.

“Janine, slow down. What happened?” Giovanni says as he closes the door behind him.

“First I need you to tell me, what’s Regina going to do if she finds Blaine?”

“Did you just find out about that now?” he asks, sinking into the chair with a sigh.

“Someone called Dad with an update, I overhead it. What’s she going to do?”

Giovanni appreciates Koga’s attempt at keeping her out of this, but after the expedition into the base here, it seems guaranteed to fail.

“If she finds him she’ll kill him. There’s no reason to assume he won’t sell her out to the police if he gets the chance.” He doesn’t mention that if she gets arrested because of Blaine her first move will be to offer them all up in a deal.

Janine stays quiet for a few seconds, before she says, “Do you think she will?”

“I don’t know. It depends on where he’s gone.” When Janine doesn’t respond, he adds, “What else were you calling about?”

She takes a deep breath, “Dad wants me to tell you that a base burnt down. It looked like an accident, but since Blaine’s missing…”

Giovanni sighs. “Which base?”

“The one in Vermilion. I don’t know what’s there right now, but Regina and Blaine have both been there a few times recently.”

There shouldn’t be anything there except things coming or going from shipments. So either Blaine was just making a statement, or Regina had gotten her hands on something dangerous.

Why Blaine felt the need to take off, rather than tell him is still unclear though.

“Janine, do you know where Blaine’s lab on Cinnabar is?”

“No.”

“There’s an entrance on the north side of the volcano. I want you to look for him there. Make sure no one follows you.”

“I can do that.” There’s a faint note of confidence returning to her voice, and she seems to have calmed down.

“Let me know what you find. And Janine?”

“Yes?”

“Go by yourself so Regina is less likely to notice, but make sure someone knows where you’re going.”

“Got it.”


	33. Chapter 33

Silver sits still on the couch, watching as Giovanni paces through the living room.

Back and forth, clearly worried about something, though Silver has no idea what, other than that he’d gotten another phone call this morning.

Green’s still in bed, even if she’s probably not asleep. Silver isn’t sure if staying in bed for hours is her way of avoiding him, or their new rules, but either way she’s made a habit of not getting up much before noon over the past few days.

He hopes she doesn’t think he’s mad at her. And any residual fear over what had happened at the lake had slowly been replaced with worry.

Especially once he’d realized that she wasn’t talking to him unless he started the conversation, and Giovanni hadn’t been having any better luck (not that Silver would have expected him to).

Sneasel’s climbing on a shelf across the room, nudging her way through the various decorations covering it, and Silver lets his attention drift from Giovanni to her in time to see her knock a figurine off the shelf.

It lands with a loud thud, but doesn’t break, and Silver scrambles over to collect both it and the startled dark type.

It’s heavy. And made of metal, which explains why it hadn’t shattered.

“Set that on one of the tables. We don’t need her knocking that onto someone.”

Silver jumps at his father’s voice, but nods and sets the thing on the table next to the couch as Giovanni sits down in an armchair.

“Did something happen?” Silver asks after a few seconds, letting Sneasel climb onto his shoulder.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“But there was something?”

There’s a brief look of amusement on Giovanni’s face. “There’s always something. This might turn out to be something good, it just depends.”

Silver nods, slightly confused. But Giovanni’s very good at being cryptic, and Silver’s starting to think that all he accomplishes by going digging for information is letting things slip himself, so he just pads over, climbing into his lap when he isn’t met with protest, and lets his head settle on Giovanni’s chest as Sneasel perches on the arm of the chair, her fur still somewhat ruffled.

“How are you feeling?” Giovanni asks as he slips an arm around Silver.

“Better, I think.”

“Good. And Green?”

Silver shrugs. They haven’t really talked since he gave her the jigglypuff doll, but Giovanni isn’t supposed to know that he’d had that, so he’s not going to mention it.

He feels Giovanni rub his arm, and lets out a slow sigh as he tries to relax.

For as much as he’s over his initial fear, he’s still having trouble sleeping. He’s not sure if it’s because of Green, or just stress, but either way, he’s tired.

* * *

Giovanni shifts in the chair when he feels Silver’s head start to sag.

It hadn’t taken very long for him to fall asleep, which isn’t surprising. While Green seems to be trying to sleep through her problems, Silver had apparently gone in the opposite direction; he’s been looking more and more exhausted over the past week.

Giovanni’s fairly certain that the same could be said of him.

Blaine had been at the lab.

Janine hadn’t gotten much out of him, but what she had was important.

There had been something in Vermilion that he hadn’t wanted Regina getting, and Giovanni wishes he was surprised by what.

Another sample from Mew. Possibly. Blaine hadn’t known what it was specifically when he’d taken off, but at this point hearing the pokemon’s name was enough to warrant panic, so he’d torched the base. He’d also emphasized to Janine that he hadn’t known if it was something genetic, or something more harmless like a recording or photo.

But it’s gone now, and that’s what’s important.

It also means that Regina has just taken the first real blow any of them have managed to deal, even if it’s mainly symbolic. Ideally it should be followed up.

Which is going to be difficult, considering Sabrina’s being monitored, repeatedly using Janine and Koga is a bad idea, Surge is likely stuck combing through the remains of the base, and Blaine seems to have disabled the phone in the lab.

Or he’s not picking up.

Which implies that he has more of a plan.

Which still does not bode well for any of them.

Giovanni just hopes that if he were going to go to the police, that he’d have done it by now and they’re at least safe on that front.


	34. Chapter 34

To say that either Green or Silver wanted to leave the hotel would be a lie.

Neither had looked particularly enthused when Giovanni had told them that they would be going out today, but they need to do something other than sulk and avoid each other, and Goldenrod is right next to a large park that’s more than ideal for taking bored children for walks.

He hasn’t been met with any verbal complaints, but he can tell from the set of Green’s shoulders and the way Silver’s clinging to the hem of his jacket that they’d rather not be here.

Unfortunately for the both of them, however, Giovanni is sick of pacing through the suite, and Regina’s too busy with Blaine to be wasting resources monitoring him, so they’re going to be here for a while.

Green’s walking ahead of them, her jigglypuff waddling next to her, and a bangle on her wrist that Giovanni supposes must be the ditto. She’s still yet to go back to wearing both gloves, and the mismatch between her hands is certainly an interesting fashion statement that he’s trying not to read to far into. Silver’s desperation to have his hands covered again back in Sinnoh seems a good indication of how not-okay Green is if she’s decided to stop wearing one.

“How long are we going to be in Goldenrod for?”

Silver’s voice pulls Giovanni from his thoughts, and he glances down at the boy, who’s face is shadowed by Sneasel clinging to his back.

“Why? Are you getting sick of it?”

“No. But you said that something good might have happened a few days ago, and I thought that meant we might be leaving.”

“It’s less that something good has happened, and more that we might be able to make it work to our advantage.” Even if he’s not entirely sure who “we” is at the moment, given that Blaine is off on his own, and when he is back in charge of Team Rocket, Giovanni does not intend for that to be a permanent arrangement, which he’s sure the other three will not handle well should they find out too early.

But according to another update from Sabrina, Regina is even more on edge than usual due to Blaine’s actions, both real and potential.

And, depending on what she ends up being driven to do, there may be a chance to get to her. Or at least take control back if she flees the region, and then it’s just a matter of sending someone to drag her back so he can ensure the job is done properly this time.

“If it does work, what’ll happen?” Silver asks.

“I suppose we’d be going to Viridian.” After the mansion is thoroughly swept for bugs, and bombs, and whatever other surprises Regina’s likely packed it with by now; Giovanni doubts she’s staying there.

Especially now that she knows he’s back. It’d make it far too easy to get to her. He’s the one who’d paid for the building’s security after all.

Though he supposes the same can be said of all the bases.

Silver nods, staring up ahead at Green, who’s paused and waiting for them as she stares blankly at an aipom climbing up a lamppost, and Giovanni isn’t surprised by his next question.

“Green too?”

“I suppose so.” He’d been telling the truth when he’d told her he wouldn’t abandon her right now. He’s not that heartless, and leaving her alone right now would probably be a death sentence given both her age and current emotional state.

And, while Sabrina hadn’t lied about them being able to find her parents, assuming their theory was correct, it would take time, and probably won’t be possible until Regina isn’t a factor.

So, for now, she can stay.

“Good,” Silver says after a few seconds.

He doesn’t sound uncertain, which Giovanni supposes is a good thing. He’s yet to see the two of them have an actual conversation, but Silver’s also back to sleeping in their room. Which is progress, regardless of whether or not Giovanni’s actually happy about it.

Green starts walking again before they can actually catch up, and Silver lets go of Giovanni’s jacket, looking like he might speed up to reach her, but he just shoves his hands into his pockets and continues on next to him.

* * *

Green’s pretty sure she’s being talked about.

Which is fine. What Silver decides to talk to his father about is up to him.

But it is sort of… stressful. Because if Giovanni gets the impression that her presence is bothering Silver (which it probably is) then there isn’t much reason for him to keep her around, regardless of what he’d said previously.

She’s been doing her best to stay a little ahead of them on the path. It’s nice to be outside again, even if she’s not enjoying the bird calls coming from the trees around the park.

Jiggly nudges her leg, and Green glances down, being met with pleading blue eyes, and after a brief hesitation spent convincing herself that it is, in fact, okay to do so, picks the pokemon up, wrapping her arms around her as she holds her.

No one yells at her. The ground doesn’t suddenly ice over. She’s fine.

Her second pause had, however, given Giovanni and Silver time to catch up, and her grip tightens slightly on Jiggly when they do, even though Sneasel’s been clinging to Silver since Giovanni confiscated their pokeballs so clearly this is allowed.

“What do you two want for lunch?” Giovanni asks as he and Silver stop next to her.

They both respond with, “Doesn’t matter,” and Green almost smiles.

Giovanni regards the two of them with an expression she can’t quite read, before he sighs, and says, “I suppose we can find something on the way back. We should be going though.”

* * *

Lunch is a lot less tense than everything else has been.

Or at least Green seems like she’s in a slightly better mood.

Silver’s mostly just glad she’s eating, albeit not very much.

He’s happy with his food though, even if his drink is slightly too sweet.

They’re at a table in the corner of a restaurant Giovanni had brought them to.

Today’s been a good day, even if he hadn’t particularly wanted to leave the hotel at first.

The walk had been pleasant, lunch is nice, and even if he and Green still aren’t really speaking, he’s happy, and she doesn’t seem completely miserable either.

Which is a rather low bar, but the past two weeks have been… bad.

And he appreciates that Giovanni seems to be trying to make up for that today.

The rest of the meal passes in more silence, but as they’re leaving the restaurant, Giovanni asks, “Is there anything either of you wants to do before we head back?”

Silver shakes his head, but Green’s brow knits and she bites her lip before saying, “Could we get ice cream?” Then, in a slightly frantic tone, “I saw a place selling it, it made me think of it. We don’t have to…”

“No, that’s fine,” Giovanni says, as Silver tilts his head in confusion, sending his bangs falling into his eyes, and he quickly bats them away.

“What are we getting?” he asks as Green takes off towards the store she’d apparently seen.

“Ice cream” is apparently a very literal name, and much to Silver’s annoyance, the freezer containing the flavors was too tall for him to see into until Giovanni picked him up.

He watches quietly as Green accepts a cone of something bright blue and very not-edible looking that she takes a bite of (she wrinkles her nose a bit at first, but then goes back to eating it so it can’t be that bad), and he points to the vanilla because there are no chunks of anything in it, and it isn’t a color he’s been taught to associate with non-food items.

It’s cold.

And sweet.

Neither of which is something he likes.

But he makes himself finish it because Green must be feeling better if she’d asked for it, and clearly she’s enjoying it.

Sneasel still ends up getting more than a few bites.


	35. Chapter 35

Silver wakes up to a firm hand on his shoulder shaking him awake.

His eyes snap open, and he sees Giovanni kneeling next to the bed.

It’s still dark out, which means whatever he’s in here to tell him probably isn’t good, and after a moment, Silver sits up.

“Is something wrong?”

“Something came up, I’m going to Saffron. A friend of mine named Orm is going to stay with the two of you for a few days, okay? He’s right out in the living room if you need anything.”

Silver nods slowly, staring at him in deeper confusion. But Green’s still asleep behind him, and he really doesn’t want to wake her up, because she needs to sleep, so he doesn’t say anything beyond a quiet, “Okay.”

Giovanni nods, and shifts, slipping an arm around Silver and pulling him into a loose hug, that Silver makes last longer than he’d probably intended by gripping his jacket and not letting go, even when he feels a kiss get pressed against the top of his head.

“Everything’s going to be fine, I’ll see you soon.”

“What do you have to do?”

Giovanni sinks back to his knees, and Silver lets him go. There’s something in his expression that he doesn’t like; he looks far too serious for it to be nothing big.

“There’s something I need to do. And in a week or so, Orm will bring the two of you to Viridian, and I’ll see you there.” He at least doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong; his tone is firm but calm.

“Okay,” Silver murmurs, letting Giovanni ruffle his hair as he stands back up.

“I’ll see you in a week.” His hand lingers on Silver’s shoulder for a few moments longer than it needs to.

“Bye.”

* * *

Sabrina had called around midnight with news that managed to be equal parts good and bad.

Regina had decided to simply remain in the headquarters in Saffron until Blaine had been dealt with.

Which is good because all of them can get to her there. No matter how much security she’s bringing with, she hadn’t been the one overseeing the building’s renovations, and there hasn’t been enough time for her to have completely overhauled the security system, which there would also be no point in doing until she’d gotten rid of everyone loyal to Giovanni anyway.

But it’s also bad because there’s been a higher than usual police presence in the city, which means Blaine did something.

And Regina needs to go before that “something” pays off and they all end up in prison or on the run.

It’s early afternoon by the time Giovanni reaches Celadon, where no one’s waiting for him. They’ve decided not to push their luck by meeting, and he’s not going to be in Saffron until the last possible minute.

Killing Regina himself is a risk, and arguably an unnecessary one. Someone else could do it just as well.

But she’d gotten away once, in a familial spat that had finally boiled over, with Nidoking being brought out, the building crumbling, and all Giovanni really remembers after that is staring up at stars after the pokemon had dropped him on the grass outside the building, uninjured because that’s just how things had worked when he’d been a teenager, never getting seriously hurt unless it was on Regina’s orders.

At the end of the day, he’d never seen her body, and he’s learned what a mistake that was.

There’s a box under the bed of the hotel room that had already been reserved, containing a handgun, as per his instructions to Sabrina.

That’s all the help he’s getting.

It’s all the help he needs.

He can break into his office just fine on his own.


	36. Chapter 36

Silver hadn’t done a very good job of explaining things, in Green’s opinion.

Or Giovanni hadn’t told him very much, but either way; all Green knows is that Orm is the biggest person she’s ever met, but still not as intimidating as Giovanni, and that he’s been very nice to Silver, so he’s probably not completely terrible.

Not that he hasn’t also been pleasant with her, it’s just that he’s been very attentive to Silver, who, while clearly confused, also isn’t complaining about anything.

Green supposes there are worse things than Silver getting used to being a spoiled rich kid.

Orm won’t tell them anything about what Giovanni’s doing though.

Green appreciates that he’s not pretending to not know, at least. Being outright told that Giovanni had told him not to tell them feels much less condescending than being lied to.

And having a stranger around had more or less forced her and Silver into actually interacting over the past few days, which she feels guilty for being happy about because she’s sure he’s not enjoying it.

But he’d asked her to read to him earlier, and his head resting in her lap is a familiar feeling that makes her feel better even if it shouldn’t.

“Why do you like these stories so much?” she asks as she closes a book. “They don’t seem like something you’d like.”

Silver blinks, looking surprised at the question. “Father got me a lot of them in Sinnoh, and I didn’t have anything else to read.”

“Is that it?” Because she’s pretty sure there’s more to it than just not having other options. If he’d seemed bored with them, Giovanni would have gotten more, she’s sure.

“They’re just nice.” He shrugs but leaves it at that.

Green nods, slightly confused, but also not sure the conversation will go anywhere if she keeps asking, so she just reaches for another book on the pile he’d brought over, still determined to make up for him being stuck with her right now.

He stays in her lap for another hour, before falling asleep, and Green slips out from under his head, intending to try and spy on Orm because he might get a phone call and let something slip.

She pads out of their room as quietly as she can.

The no-pokeballs rule hadn’t changed, so Sneasel’s balancing on a curtain rod and Green’s pretty sure one of the vases on the table is actually Ditty trying to scare someone, but they aren’t breaking things, so she leaves them alone as she goes looking for their “babysitter”.

She finds him sitting in another bedroom, watching what she was pretty sure was the news, but it gets switched off as soon as he realizes she’s behind him so all she catches is that something is happening with some big office building and the police.

“Do you need something?” he asks, turning towards her, and Green notices that he has a tight grip on his phone and that he looks worried. She doubts it’s over her.

“No. Silver’s napping, I was just seeing where you were.”

She darts out of the room before he can ask her anything else.

* * *

The rest of the day is spent not-quite avoiding either Silver or Orm, until bedtime when Green really can’t avoid Silver. There are other bedrooms, but taking one seems likely to raise concern with the grownups, and she doesn’t want to deal with that, so she hasn’t changed anything.

She’s still sleeping as close to the edge of the bed as she can get though, quietly mulling things over as she lays stiffly on her side, picking at a fold in the sheets and watching Sneasel attempt to settle on the bench with Jiggly.

After an hour or so, a small finger pokes her in the shoulder, and she rolls over to see Silver laying next to her, his eyes wide and worried.

“What’s wrong?” she asks before he can do anything.

“Why do you still not want to talk to me?”

Green’s brow knits, and she stares at him. “I thought you were mad at me. Because of…” If she says his name she thinks she’ll puke.

Silver attempts to shake his head without actually lifting it off the pillow. It kind of works.

“You scared me. But I’m fine now, and I wasn’t mad. So can you please stop being weird? Father said we’re going home in a few days, and that includes you so I just want things to be… normal again.”

“You’re not mad?” she repeats, and he nods awkwardly against the pillow again.

Green takes a deep breath, and nods, holding out an arm invitingly for him to crawl under, which he does, settling against her quietly.

He doesn’t feel as small as he had in her cell in the base; six months of decent food having filled him out, but it’s still nice to have him curled up next to her again.

She wants it to stay like this from now on.

“Hey, Silver?” she murmurs after a few minutes of quiet.

“What?” He sounds sleepy, and she smiles even though he can’t see her face.

“Thanks.”


	37. Chapter 37

Getting through Headquarters and up to his office was going to be slightly more difficult than Giovanni had expected.

It’s not surprising that police are all over the block, but it’s still inconvenient.

But not impossible to work around either.

He keeps his hat pulled low as he walks through Saffron, away from the towering buildings and the base and towards the woods surrounding the city.

Things are going to take longer than anticipated, but nothing has proven to be an insurmountable roadblock yet.

Once he’s out of sight of the city and the main roads, and on as close to a direct line from the base as he can get, he lets Nidoking and Ryhorn out.

“I need a tunnel. Into base. Get digging.”

And they do, and once they’re in the hole, with the entrance sealed again and a flashlight providing all their light they go fairly quickly, but Giovanni can still feel impatience pricking at him like burrs as both pokemon tear through the earth, occasionally differing from his directions when their sharper senses alert them to pipes and other tunnels he can’t detect.

Eventually, they reach a steel wall, and the corner of Giovanni’s mouth twitches as he takes a last deep breath of the damp, earthy air in their little tunnel, and he nods to Nidoking as his hand drifts to the handgun tucked into his jacket.

There’s a sharp sound of metal being torn through, and Giovanni is only slightly disappointed when it’s revealed that they’ve broken into a lab, and not an armory or the detention level, but he supposes they didn’t go quite deep enough. Still, more weapons would have been nice.

The scientists are all standing frozen at their tables and desks, and Giovanni steps calmly into the room.

“If word gets out that I’m here, I’ll look to all of you as responsible.”

And suddenly it’s like he’s not in the room, as they all turn back to their work, ignoring him and the gaping hole in the wall as he recalls both pokemon and heads through the room and out the door.

It’s almost disappointingly simple to get through the base. Whether no one notices him as out of place, or there just isn’t anyone who wants to start a fight he isn’t sure, but he gets to an elevator that will take him to the top floor within a few minutes.

As he nears the top of the building, he lets Beedrill out, and steps to the side as the door opens.

Beedrill surges forward, and Giovanni hears a gasp of pain followed by two bodies hitting the floor, and steps around the corner.

One guard seems to be paralyzed, the other might be dead (or will be soon), and Giovanni steps over them towards the door.

He slips the gun into his hand and pushes the door open.

Regina is sitting behind the desk, and she freezes when he steps into the room, the gun already leveled at her head.

Slowly, she looks up as Giovanni steps further into the room.

“You aren’t going to do it.” Her tone is as dismissively calm as ever.

“Where did you get that idea from?” Giovanni asks, letting the door shut as he steps into the room.

“Well, you see, I was under the impression that you didn’t want to come back. You’ve done nothing since you came to Johto. Except whatever happened to Pryce, but that seems so impulsive, it can’t have been you. I taught you better than that. Or maybe not if you lost control of two children that fast. But no; I don’t think you’re going to kill me. I think you should go back to how things were when this all started, and head back to Sinnoh.”

“I might have considered that, were it not for the fact that you’ve already broken that deal.”

“Blaine was getting twitchy, you were an obvious probable cause. You would have done the same. Come to think of it, do you know why he left? I’m sure you saw all the fuss outside, something must have spooked him.”

Truthfully, Giovanni now suspects that Blaine may have been looking for a way out for a while, and Team Rocket’s leadership being a mess provided exactly that. But he’s not going to give her the satisfaction of hearing him admit to potentially driving off one of their best scientists.

“Maybe you’re just that awful to work for,” he says with a shrug, stepping closer.

He should have pulled the trigger the minute he came in, but he wants, just once, to see a glint of fear in her eyes before she ceases to be a problem.

But she still isn’t reacting, and her hands haven’t left the top of the desk. Her lack of concern is quickly going from annoying to worrying. She has something planned.

“Who’s going to come running when they hear a shot go off?” he asks, and a smirk flicks across her face.

“Should something happen to me, one of my men will alert our contact in the police, who will give the signal to storm the building. I admit, it would be a better threat if you weren’t planning on running off again anyway, but look at it this way; if the police raid headquarters the same day you come back it’s going to look like you had something to do with it. And spies never last very long, do they?”

Giovanni stays still, weighing his options for a few seconds, before letting a smirk cross his face.

“So you’ve finally done something helpful, you mean?”

Before she can say or do anything else, he pulls the trigger twice, and watches as she falls back is the chair, her lips parted in a last gasp for air. There’s pain in her eyes before they go dull.

He doesn’t get a chance to feel smug or triumphant though. Gunshots in this room will warrant an immediate response, and there should already be guards on their way up the stairs.

So he lets himself take a deep breath, before releasing Nidoking and stepping around the desk to push both the body and the chair out of the way, glancing over the papers spread over the table just as the door is thrown open by three guards, who look very surprised to see him.

“We need to burn the building,” Giovanni says, looking up from the desk, his tone level but firm.

“Sir-”

“We need to burn the building, because the police will be here in a few minutes, and the only way we don’t all get arrested is if there is nothing for them to find.”


	38. Chapter 38

Silver’s feet are swinging in the back seat of the car as Orm turns down a road leading into the large forest at the edge of the city.

Giovanni had called two days ago saying that they can come to Viridian now, and they’re apparently almost to the house.

Green’s staring out the opposite window, and Silver has been glancing over at her every few seconds, trying to judge her mood.

She’s been happier since their talk, but he’s not sure him getting to go to his real home (he hadn’t gotten the impression that Giovanni spent much time in Sinnoh) while her parents are still missing is going to help things.

But she’d seemed as happy as him about getting to leave Goldenrod and the hotel, so hopefully, she’s okay.

Jiggly and Sneasel are sitting between them, and Ditty is somewhere on Green. They all seem to be in good moods at least.

“That’s your father’s gym,” Orm says suddenly, pulling Silver from his thoughts.

Silver looks out the window and is met with the sight of a large brick building sitting among the trees.

It doesn’t look familiar.

But it is there. It’s proof that there is a life here in Viridian for him, and that’s reassuring in and of itself.

Silver shifts in his seat as they continue past the building, trying to keep it in sight for as long as possible.

When the gym disappears, they go for another ten minutes before turning onto a long driveway, which eventually leads to a house at least twice the size of the one in Sinnoh.

Orm stops the car in front of the front steps, where Giovanni’s waiting for them, and Silver and Green scramble out as soon as Orm opens the back door of the car, along with Jiggly and Sneasel, who tentatively wander away from them.

“How are the two of you?” Giovanni asks once they’re both standing in front of him.

“Good,” they chorus in not-very-confident tones, before Silver walks over, looking over the yard as he hesitantly reaches for his father’s hand.

There’s what looks like a battlefield to his right, and a lawn stretching to the tree line on his left. Hedges line the driveway, and there’s a circle of plants in the middle of the driveway in front of the house.

It’s nice.

Big, and new, but nice.

Giovanni leans down, picking Silver up, and Silver lets his head rest on his shoulder, though he doesn’t say anything as Giovanni turns and walks back up the steps, leading Green to the front door, which he opens as Orm gets back in the car.

“Is he leaving?” Silver asks, watching over Giovanni’s shoulder as the car starts.

“He’s just parking the car and getting your luggage out. He’ll be leaving tomorrow; it’s a bit late to try and go anywhere right now.”

Silver nods, shifting in Giovanni’s arms so he can look around the hall they’re now standing in once the door closes.

Green’s already wandering off, and after a moment Giovanni sets him back down.

“Why don’t the two of you go explore some. I’ll be down here if you need me.”

Silver looks up at him, but nods again, watching as he slips through another door into what looks like a living room.

Silver waits a few more seconds, before heading in the direction Green had gone.

He finds her in a dining room, studying the contents of a glass cabinet.

“What do you think?” she asks, meeting his reflection’s eyes when he stops next to her.

“I don’t know.” This is where he lives now, does he need to have an opinion?

She nods, and Silver glances down at her hands. She’s still wearing just the one glove, and he catches her bare hand in his.

Her shoulders rise and fall as she takes a deep breath, before saying, “Let’s try and find your room, okay?”

“Okay.”

* * *

Giovanni isn’t surprised when he finds Silver sitting on the rug in his old room, his knees pulled to his chest as he stares around the room at the shelves of toys, the bed he still hasn’t grown out of, and the few random patches of crayon on the walls that Giovanni hadn’t been able to bring himself to get rid of.

“Ditty wandered off on Green, she went to go find him,” Silver says after a few seconds.

“Alright.” Giovanni sits down next to Silver as he adds, “And how are you?”

Silver shrugs, and after a few seconds, asks, “Am I staying in here?”

“If you want to. There are rooms down the hall is you don’t.” He can’t imagine what it must be like to be back somewhere he’s clearly been before but can’t remember. He won’t be pushing on anything right now.

Silver nods slowly, and leans against him, looking tired.

Giovanni slips an arm around his shoulder, letting him settle as his thoughts drift.

Headquarters is now a burnt-out husk. Regina’s body and anything of use had gone up in flames. It’s a massive blow to the whole organization, and if he’s careful, he should be able to just let things fall apart over the next few months.

Inevitably, someone will catch onto what he’s doing, he’s sure, but even at this point, things are very far gone. Even ignoring two bases being lost in the past month, there is always going to be the question, now, of who had been on Regina’s side from the beginning, and while Team Rocket hadn’t necessarily operated on trust before, that will strain things more. And with her body gone, it’s not impossible that someone will start rumors that Regina is still alive.

But in a few months, it won’t matter.

Silver stands up suddenly, and Giovanni turns towards the door as Green pokes her head in. The ditto she’d gone to retrieve is on her shoulder, and both Sneasel and the jigglypuff are at her feet.

Sneasel darts into the room as Green says, “Where am I sleeping?”

“I’ll show you.” Giovanni pulls himself up and starts to tell Silver to follow him, but Silver cuts him off.

“I’ll stay in here.”


	39. Chapter 39

Silver wakes up to a thump, and scrambles out of bed, just to see that Sneasel had knocked his suitcase over while she was getting down from the shelf she’d slept on.

With a slow sigh, he sits back down on the edge of the bed and looks around his room again.

Either Giovanni or Orm had brought his suitcase and the dolls up, and all three had apparently been sitting in a line by the door before Sneasel had plowed into them.

The bed he’s sitting on is smaller than the ones in Sinnoh and the hotel, but it’s still comfortable, and, while the blankets had needed to be shaken out, they’re softer than either of the other beds’.

The rug Sneasel is sitting on (looking slightly miffed about her crash landing) is soft under his feet, and there’s a shelf with drawers and toys across the room from him. Maybe he’ll go through it later.

He hears a door open somewhere down the hall, and gets back up, walking over to push the door open just enough to see Green slipping into the bathroom at the end of the hall.

He doesn’t see any other lights on, so Giovanni probably isn’t awake yet.

It’s been a long week for everyone, Silver supposes sleeping in makes sense.

Even if he isn’t going to.

He and Green had explored most of the first floor yesterday, and some of the second, which means there are still rooms to explore, and after a few seconds of thought, he slips out of his room, wandering down the hall.

His hand skims idly along the wall as he heads through the house, Sneasel trailing after him.

It’s better decorated than the house in Sinnoh had been; paintings cover the walls and there are more breakable looking ornaments on shelves.

Five minutes of aimless wandering leads him to a door leading to a balcony, and he pushes it open and steps out.

It’s still a little dark out, the sun’s just starting to poke over the forest surrounding the house, and with a slow sigh, he sits down by the railing, staring out at the trees as Sneasel jumps up onto the rail.

There’s no signs of the city this far into the forest, just bird calls and the sound of things jumping through the trees.

Silver shifts so he’s leaning against the railing, and after a few minutes, feels his eyelids start to droop, and Sneasel settles in his lap.

* * *

Green probably should have woken Giovanni up when she realized Silver wasn’t in his room.

But that would have meant explaining that she isn’t sure she likes not being in the same room as him, because while she hadn’t realized it in Goldenrod, she always knew he was safe at night, and having separate rooms is making her nervous, and she’d checked his room on her way back to hers and hadn’t been there.

But he probably wouldn’t run off on his own, so he’s still in the house, which means she can find him on her own.

And she does, after a few minutes, come across him, napping on a balcony with Sneasel.

Which leaves her with a slight problem.

Because it’s probably not good for him to stay out there. But Green isn’t sure she can actually lift him.

But she doesn’t want to get him in trouble, which seems unlikely, but not impossible.

So, as much as she doesn’t want to do it, she slips out and nudges him awake.

He blinks slowly, before his eyes land on her, and he tilts his head.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. I just didn’t know if you should be sleeping out here.” Then, to sound less paranoid, “You didn’t look comfortable. Your neck will get stiff if you sleep like that.”

“Oh.” He rubs his eyes as he shifts to look at the trees again, and Green has to resist the urge to pull him back into the house, because what if they’re still supposed to be letting Giovanni know where they are all the time?

But Silver’s calm, and she doesn’t want to ruin it, so she just settles next to him, and lets him lean against her.

“What do you think's gonna happen now?” she asks after a few minutes.

“They’re gonna look for your parents, right?”

“I guess.” She knows she doesn’t sound very enthused about it.

“Is something wrong, Green?”

“Of course not. I just like staying with you, it’ll be weird when that changes.” She doesn’t mention that they have no idea where her parents are, meaning it’s entirely possible they aren’t even in Kanto anymore, and if that’s the case, how much would she get to see him? How much would she get to see him even if they are still in Kanto? Giovanni’s keeping her around to keep Silver happy, and possibly out of some feeling of obligation, but if she goes home, there isn’t really a point in letting them stay in contact, is there?

But if Silver’s thought of this he isn’t saying anything about it, and he has too much faith in Giovanni at this point for it to occur to him in the first place.

Not that she thinks that’s a bad thing but Giovanni doesn’t have the same obligations to Green that he does to Silver. Which is fine, but it means she can’t trust him.

But it’ll still be nice to go home if they do find her parents.

* * *

Giovanni isn’t very surprised when Silver and Green drift into the kitchen when the smell of food cooking starts wafting through the house.

They’ve apparently made up, Silver’s holding Green’s hand when they come in. They also both look tired, but that’s to be expected after the first night somewhere new.

“Did the two of you sleep well?” he asks, setting two plates of food on the table, and gesturing for them to sit.

He’s met with two murmurs of yes, though they’re both quick to eat.

Giovanni sits down across from them with his own plate, and lets the room stay quiet, until Silver asks, “Did Orm leave?”

“Early this morning, yes.” Back to Celadon and the base that’s been quickly worked into a headquarters. Giovanni’s going to try not to let it become to well established. He’s also not going to be there much, if at all.

The sooner things fall apart, the better.

“What happens now?” Green asks.

“Now, we’ll get whatever you two need for your rooms or whatever else, and I’ll need to be at the gym a few times a week, but that doesn’t need to start for a few weeks if you need time to settle in. And other than that, you can do what you want around the house. Within reason.”

The children exchange a confused glance, then nod.


	40. Chapter 40

Green’s fingers curl into the fabric of her skirt as she sits in the chair behind Giovanni’s desk.

He’s leaning around her, typing on the laptop in front of her as he sets up a call with her parents. He’d found them a few days ago, and they’re out of the region right now, but they’re coming back soon, and then they’ll take her out to Sevii and…

And she’s still not sure what happens after that, but she’s going home, and she won’t be so far away that it’ll be impossible to see Silver again, so she’s pretty sure she’s happy about it.

“They should be on in a minute, I’ll be downstairs,” Giovanni says suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts, and all she can manage is a quick nod before he’s out of the room.

Silver’s sitting on the couch in the corner, she’d talked him into staying.

She’s not sure if she’s going to introduce him or not, but she wants him here.

The screen lights up, and Green doesn’t recoil further back into the chair, even if she kind of wants to.

Mummy presses a hand to her lips, and Green can see Daddy’s arm tightening around her shoulders.

“Hi,” is all she manages to squeak out.

“Hey, Sweetheart,” Mummy says, lowering her hand slowly. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” Which is only mostly true; her stomach has been tying itself in knots all morning, but why give a worrying answer?

Mummy nods as Daddy says, “We’ll be coming to Viridian in a few days. How long have you been staying there?”

“Six months.” Which means she’s been staying with Giovanni and Silver for about eight, and away from…

She’s been free for nine months. That’s what’s important.

Her fingers tap on her knees as Daddy says something else, but she doesn’t really register it; something about the house being by the beach, and her room facing the ocean, and it sounds nice but her eyes are starting to itch, and it’s taking all of her self control to not start crying.

She’d been mad when she realized they’d left Pallet, but now she thinks it’s probably a good thing they did. She hadn’t liked it all that much, and everything she’s heard about Sevii makes it sound great, and so does everything Daddy’s saying once she manages to make herself focus.

He says something about them still having her old dolls, and her thoughts drift to the little jigglypuff currently tucked into her pillowcase. It’ll be nice to have something she can actually hug and hold onto again (that’s actually hers because while Silver’s loaned her some of his stuff it’s still _his)._

“We’re coming out to get you in a week,” she hears Mummy say, which pulls her attention back to the conversation, and she nods.

“Okay.” Then, after a few seconds, adds, “That’ll be nice.”

A smile crosses Mummy’s face, and Green manages to return it.

* * *

Silver stays quietly on the couch as Green finishes the call with her parents. By the time they hang up, she still sounds nervous, but she’s also not clutching at her skirt anymore.

After the call ends, Green stays still in the chair, staring at the screen until Silver stands up and walks over to her.

“Are you okay?” he asks, setting a hand on her arm.

“I’m fine.” She says it a little too quickly, and tears are glistening in her eyes, but Silver decides against pushing her.

Going home when you know it’s coming probably feels very different than what had happened with him, so he’s not sure how much help he can really offer anyway.

“We should head downstairs if you’re ready.”

“Right.”

Giovanni’s waiting for them in the living room, sorting through a pile of papers spread over the coffee table. Some of them are newspaper clippings, and Silver sees a few mentioning police raids on Team Rocket bases. Giovanni’s said that that’s a good thing right now, which doesn’t make very much sense to Silver because he still doesn’t see anything actually wrong with the organization, but he supposes he must be right.

“How did it go?” Giovanni asks, looking up when they enter the room.

“Good. They’re coming out in a week.” Green sounds calmer now, and Silver watches as she takes a deep breath, and crosses her arms over her stomach. “How far away is Sevii?”

“Between the train and the ship, it’s about two days.” Giovanni pauses, before adding, “The two of you will still see each other if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Thank you.”

Giovanni nods, and Green slips off to get ready to leave for the gym.

Silver pads over, trying to get a better look at the papers. For once, Giovanni doesn’t try to stop him, though there isn’t much more to them than he’d initially thought.

An arm slips around him, pulling him back from the table, and he lets himself be drawn up into his father’s lap.

“And how are you?” Giovanni asks as he settles.

“I’m fine.” He points towards the papers, “Did something happen?”

There’s a quick kiss against his temple. “Nothing bad. Things should quiet down in another month or so.”

Silver nods slowly, before pushing himself out of Giovanni’s lap at the sound of Green’s footsteps in the hall, and her call of, “I’m ready!”

Her mood has been greatly improved since Giovanni told them about finding her parents, and aside from her nervousness with the call, she’s been relatively cheerful all week. Which isn’t something Silver’s used to, even at this point, but it’s been a nice change.

Coarse fingers ruffle Silver’s hair, and he glances up as Giovanni stands up.

“If you’re ready we should go,” he says, leaning over the table to gather the papers together.

“I am.”

Giovanni nods, gesturing for Silver to follow Green, which he does, only glancing back briefly when he hears a match being struck; and he catches a glimpse of the papers being tossed into the fireplace.

Which seems like a good sign.

* * *

The drive to the gym is only ten minutes, and Silver hops out of the car as soon as the Giovanni opens the door, already heading towards the large double doors at the front of the building.

A few weeks ago, Giovanni had told them that they could go in the forest, as long as they stayed together, and stayed by the gym, which is what they’ve been doing, but apparently Silver had been woken up too early this morning because he’s curled up on the couch in Giovanni’s office by the time he and Green are in the building.

Green grabs a book off a shelf and climbs up to the top of the bleachers by the battlefield, seemingly content with herself.

Which is good, she’d been a mess prior to calling her parents, but clearly their talk had calmed her down.

They’d taken a while to find.

Sabrina’s guess of the police moving them had been wrong, they’d apparently just left Pallet to avoid the memories and associations with the place, which Giovanni understands, even if their method had been a tad dramatic; none of their former associates had known where they went after all.

But he’d gotten lucky, and tracked them down, and Green will be gone by the end of the week, which is definitely going to bother Silver, even if he probably won’t let on about it.

And it will be strange to not have her around, she’s been with them almost as long as Silver’s been back after all, but he suspects splitting them up for a bit may do them both some good anyway.

Green especially.

And once she’s home, he may just give the word to outright disband Team Rocket and take Silver out of Kanto again for a bit. Maybe to Hoenn this time. The boy could still use some sun.

Sabrina and Janine are the only ones to have caught on to what he’s doing at the moment (neither seems overly concerned, though he still doesn’t know how Janine worked it out so fast), so he’d be risking burning several bridges, but it may just be best to put the whole thing out of its misery before people get desperate and infighting starts. A quick bullet instead of the slow bleed he’d initially planned.

Or maybe the timing would be too suspicious, he hasn’t decided yet.

Silver shifts on the couch, so his feet are up the back, and his head’s hanging off the seat as he stares upside-down at Giovanni.

“Do you need something?” Giovanni asks, raising an eyebrow.

“No.”

“Don’t sit like that for too long.”

“’kay.”

He watches as Silver stretches his hands out in front of his face, before setting them on the floor and clearly attempting to somersault off the couch.

He lands with a painful sounding thump but gets up without complaint, and darts out to go find Green.

At least one of them has nothing to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap, thanks for reading! Hopefully, it's not too obvious that this was mostly written whilst in lockdown. Or that the entire thing exists because I wanted an excuse to write like... three scenes in it.
> 
> For anyone who cares, Mountainous Road's sequel will probably be going up next, unless I get a one-shot or something done in the meantime, but it will be a few weeks while I get a rhythm down with writing and online classes, but it is coming~

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr- https://shellys-apprentice.tumblr.com/


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